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23  WEST  MAIN  SiREET 

WEBSTER,  NY.  14580 

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Canadian  Institute  for  Historir.ai  Microreproductions  /  Institut  Canadian  de  micrcreproductions  historiques 


Technical  and  Bibliographic  Notas/Notas  techniques  et  biMiographiques 


v; 


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TSNUED"),  or  the  symbol  V  (meaning  "END"), 
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dernidre  image  de  chaque  microfiche,  selon  le 
cas:  le  symbols  -^  signifie  "A  SUIVRE  ",  le 
symbols  7  signifie  "FIN". 

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et  de  haut  en  bcs,  en  prenant  le  nombre 
d'images  ndcessaire.  Les  diagrammes  suivants 
iilustrent  la  m^thode. 


1  2  3 


1 

2 

3 

M 

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SIBA8TIAN    CABOT. 


m 


John  and  Sebastian  Cabot. 


:r,r 


BIOGRAPHICAL  NOTICE, 


WITH     DOCUMENTS. 


BY   j^i.A]^CESCO    TAKDUCCI. 


TRANSLATED  FROM  ITALUf^ 


BY    HENRY    F     BROWNSOX. 


DETROIT: 
H.  F   BROWNSON,  PUBLISHER, 

83  AND  35  COJfGRESS  STREET,  WEST. 
IRfiS. 


ongregg  i„  the  year  Eighteen  n„^^ 

BV  HENRY  F.  BRoWNSoT  ""'  ""'''''  '''^■ 

In  the  Offlce  of  the  Llhm-i 

we  Ubrarian  of  Conerew  .,  «, 

''P^atWa«hington,,>.C. 


TRANSLATOR'S  PREFACE. 


The  original  edition  of  this  work  in  Italian  is  published  at  the 
charge  of  the  Royal  Commission  of  National  History  of  Venice. 
This  translation  is  authorized  by  that  Commission  as  well  as  by 
the  Author, 

A  comparison  of  the  translation  with  the  original  publication  will 
show  that  they  vary  in  some  places.  In  every  instance  of  the  sort, 
the  variance  has  been  suggested  or  authorized  by  Professor 
Tardiicci,  and  will  be  conformed  to  in  the  next  Italian  edition. 

The  Author's  letter  of  Dedication  shows  how  he  was  led  to  wite 
this  story  of  the  Cabots;  and  points  out  the  propriety  of  such  work 
after  the  publication  of  his  "Life  of  Christopher  Columbus,"  and  the 
seasonableness  of  the  work  as  his  contribution  to  the  Festivals  now 
celebrating  in  honor  of  the  gr.-at  Genoese  and  the  discovery  of 
America. 

Next  in  time,  as  in  importance,  i  the  discovery  of  the  Bahamas 
and  West  Indies  by  Columbus,  was  the  discovory  of  the  northern 
part  ot  America  by  the  Cabots,  I  may  be  pardoned  for  adding 
that  the  latter  discovery  must  be  regarded  by  the  historian  as 
infinitely  more  beneficial  to  mankind  than  the  former. 

I'liesc  two  discoveries,  the  fir>t  by  a  Genoese,  the  second  by  Vene- 
tians, transferred  the  control  of  tlie  world's  commerce  from  Genoa 
and  Vvmice  to  the  Iberian  peninsula  and  the  British  Isles.  Genoa 
and  Venice  gave  birth  to  the  Ii.t'm-s  wlvse  achievements  were  to 


iv 


translator's  prefacb. 


Btrip  tbem  of  the  glorious  rank  they  had  prevJously  enjoyed,  and 
raise  two  other  utates  to  the  pinnacle  of  greatness,  where  they  vied 
with  each  other  in  ingratitude  to  their  great  benefactors. 

The  importance  of  the  discovery  of  John  Cabot,  and  its  con- 
tinuation by  his  son  Sebastian,  can  hardly  be  over-estimated.  It  is 
nothing  derogatory  to  the  glory  of  Christopher  Columbus,  who 
must  ever  be  honored  as  the  greatest  of  discoverers,  to  say  that  John 
Ciibot  preceded  him  in  the  attempt  at  trans-Atlantic  discovery,  and 
ultiiough  San  Salvador  was  discovered  nearly  two  years  before  the 
English  possessions  were,  Cabot  would  have  sucrseeded  had  Colum- 
bus never  lived. 

Nor  does  it  amount  to  any  thing  to  say  that  the  discovery  to  the 
north  would  have  been  the  inevitable  result  of  European  acqurvint- 
ance  with  the  West  Indies;  for  it  is  equally  true  that  the  discovery  of 
these  and  of  all  south  would  have  followed  the  discovery  of  "New- 
foundlan^^"  Cabot  had  been  for  years  looking  for  land  to  the  west, 
led  by  a  course  of  reasoning  similar  to  that  which  influenced  Co- 
lumbus, and  had  Columbus  never  lived,  would  have  been  Columbus. 

Columbus  and  Cabot  looked  for  a  land  of  gold  and  spices.  Colum- 
bus found  the  lands  rich  in  precious  metals,  and  the  result  there 
has  been  four  centuries  of  cruelty,  slavery,  and  oppression,  of  des- 
potism and  anarchy.  Cabot  found  a  land  whose  only  wealth  was 
in  the  cod-fish  that  swarmed  on  its  coasts;  b-U  that  land  became 
the  cradle  of  liberty  and  justice,  of  rpsistance  to  tyranny  and  oppres- 
sion, the  refuge  of  the  enslaved  and  down-trodden  of  every  clime. 
The  world,  humanity,  is  better,  nobler,  happier,  for  the  discovery 
made  by  Cabot;  has  any  real  benefit  to  mankind  resulted  from  the 
lands  south  of  us  ? 

Let  not  this  be  taken  as  casting  any  slur  on  the  character  or  senti- 
ments of  Christopher  Columbus.  What  happened  was  against  his 
will,  and  in  spite  of  all  he  could  do  to  prevent  it.  Cabot  was,  appar- 


translator's  preface. 


scovery 
[•om  the 

Lr  senti- 

linst  his 

appar- 


ently, a  man  of  bis  times.  Columbus  was  above  and  beyond  all 
times.  No  pent-up  notions  contracted  bis  heart  ;  bis  aspiratio.'is 
were  sublime;  bis  affections  as  broad  as  the  universe.  The  man  who 
wrote,  as  Columbus  did  in  one  of  his  letters,  "I  say  that  the  Holy 
Ghost  works  in  the  Christian  and  in  tlie  Jew  ;  in  the  Moor  and  in 
every  one  in  every  religion;"*  may  have  lived  in  the  Fifteenth 
Century,  but  bis  soul  is  at  home  in  the  Nineteenth.    ' 

Columbus  sought  for  a  new  world  that  the  Gospel  might  be  made 
known  to  millions  who  had  never  beard  the  glad  tidings  of  salva- 
tion; and  for  gold  that  he  might  subsidize  hosts  for  the  delivery  of 
the  Holy  Land.  The  Cabots  sought  to  discover  unknown  regions 
for  the  sake  of  the  discovery  and  the  extension  of  commerce  and 
geographical  knowledge.  ... 

Tiie  untiring  industry  of  our  author  in  the  examination  of  the  rec- 
ords and  documents  has  enabled  him  to  fix  the  date  of  the  dis- 
covery of  the  American  Continent  by  John  Cabot  and  his  sons  as 
June  24,  1494.  His  acuteness  in  historical  criticism  has  established 
the  Venetian  nationality  of  both  John  and  Sebastian;  the  discovery 
by  Sebastian  of  Hudson  Strait,  Hudson  Bay,  j»nd  Fox  Channel.  He 
has  successfully  defended  Sebastian  Cabot  from  the  only  serious 
charge  ever  brought  against  him,  and  given  a  faithful  portrait  of 
him  as  a  leader  who  may  have  made  a  mistake  in  his  policy  towards 
the  mutinous  officers  he  was  obliged  to  take  with  hira  on  his  expe- 
dition  of  1526  ;  but  was  always  just  and  fair,  and  only  deficient  at 
times  in  the  severity  he  should  have  exhibited.  This  expedition,  in 
the  light  of  the  new  documents  used  by  Tarducci,  takes  on  quite  an- 
other aspect  than  it  pi-eviously  presented. 

It  is  further  claimed  for  Sebastian  Cabot  that  to  him  is  due  the 


•  Let  not  Oolumbus,  nor  the  present  writer  be  misapprehended.    There  are 
other  workiD{;g  of  the  Holy  Ghost  besides  that  of  sanctifying  grace. 


VI 


translator's  preface. 


commercial  greatness  of  England  ;  and  if  so,  of  course  also  that  of 
the  United  States, 

Sebastiar  Cabot,  moreover,  was  the  first  to  propose,  and  to  at- 
tempt to  sol  re  the  great  problem  of  tlie  north-west  passage, — a  prob- 
lem which  may  yet  remain  unsolved  till  the  next  century;  but  to 
which  we  owt  some  of  the  most  sublime  examples  of  heroism  and 
endurance  the  human  race  can  boast  of. 

Columbus  stands  on  a  solid  pedestal  as  the  greatest  of  the  world's 
discoverers,  but  Tarducci  claims  for  the  Cabots  a  rank  above  all 
othen;  except  Columbus  himself,  and  it  is  most  conformable  to  the 
fitness  of  things  that  the  same  author  should  have  written  the  life 
of  all  three. 

Detroit,  Jan.  16,1893. 

H.  F.  BROWNSON. 


I 


/•    » 


To  THB 

COUNTESS  GABRIELLA  SPALLETTI, 

ROMB. 

Most  Noble  Countbss  : 

As  the  Centenary  Festival  of  the  Discovery  of  America  is  near  at 
hand,  I  have  pondered  much  what  I  could  do  to  take  an  active  part 
in  it,  it  seeming  to  me  that,  after  writing  the  Life  of  Christopher 
Columbus,  I  was  almost  under  a  moral  obligation  to  be  something 
more  than  a  ,aere  spectator.  After  much  reflection  I  resolved 
to  write  about  the  Cabots.  I  saw  plainly  that  the  task  was  serious, 
and  one  that  might  well  affright  greater  ability  than  mine  ;  but  the 
subject  entered  so  opportunely,  or  rather  so  rightfully,  into  the 
Festival,  that  its  seasonableness  overcame  ray  hesitation.  In  fact,  the 
Cabots  were  the  first  to  discover  the  mainland  of  America,  less  than 
two  years  after  Christopher  Columbus's  discovery  ;  so  that,  after 
the  great  Genoese,  no  one  ha?  an  equal  claim  to  hi  remembered 
and  celebrated  at  these  centenary  Festivals.  I  set  myself  therefore 
to  work  with  all  the  vigor  I  am  capable  of;  and  all  the  time  which 
the  obstinate  malady  of  my  eyes  allowed  rae  to  employ,  and  which 
the  occupation  of  teaching  left  me  free  from  the  duties  of  the 
school,  I  have  dedicated  to  the  Story  of  the  Cabots.  Nor  has 
the  difficulty  of  the  path,  great  as  it  has  been,  ever  lessened  my 
zeal  or  tired  my  energy  while  I  had  it  ever  in  view  to  arrive  in 
time  and  not  fail  to  make  some  contribution  to  this  Festival.  I  had 
already  travelled  a  great  part  of  my  way,  and  the  hope  of  finish- 
ing all  began  to  become  a  certainty,  when  an  unforseen  difficulty 
threatened  to  render  useless  all  my  care  and  labor.  In  the  scarcity  of 


Tin 


DEDICATION. 


doouraents  on  the  Cabots,  it  was  moat  important  for  me  to  have 
therecordH  of  the  suit  against  Sebastian  Cabot,  wliich  arc  preserved 
in  the  SpaniHh  archives,  and  never  published  nor  studied  by  any 
one,  and  a  few  other  documents,  either  known  only  by  name  or 
erroneously  known,  which  are  kept  in  the  same  arohivi'S.  My  anxiety 
to  procure  copies  of  them,  or  at  least  to  know  somewhat  fully  their 
contents,  was  as  great  as  their  importance.  But  wherever  I  turned  to 
knock,  I  found  people  too  busy  to  attend  to  me.  I  thus  found  myself 
on  the  point  of  either  giving  out  my  work  sadly  defective,  or  putting 
off  iis  publication  indefinitely.  The  former  I  would  not  do,  and 
the  latter  was  painful  to  me.  But  in  a  happy  moment  I  thought 
of  you  and  of  your  many  connections  and  1  wrote  to  you  explaining 
ray  case.  You  took  the  matter  to  heart,  and  soon  afterwards  1  re- 
ceived beautiful  copies  of  the  coveted  documents.  '  ,  •  ,  . 
Now,  then,  that  I  reach  the  bank  at  last,  and  present  to  the 
Public  my  history  of  the  Cabots,  such  as  it  is,  it  ia  right  that  I 
siiould  place  your  name  in  front  of  it,  for  you  have  been  in  a  certain 
fashion  a  colaborer  in  my  work.  I  know  that  what  I  present  you  is 
too  little,  but  the  Poet  said  :  *                          ;•         , 

"I  give  thee  all,  I  can  no  more. 

Though  poortlic  offering  be. "  r'  ;        V  - 


But  though  my  book  lack  the  merit  that  would  make  it  a  worthy 
offering  to  a  polished  and  noble  Lady,  I  trust  that  the  attestation 
it  bears  of  my  gratitude  will  render  it  acceptable  in  your  eyes. 

PiOBBico.  August  1,  1892. 

Your  most  Dev.  and  Obt. 

FRANCESCO  1 ARDUCCI. 


*  "  Nd  che  pnco  io  vi  dia  da  imputar  sono; 
iM  quaato  io  posso  dar  tutto  Vi  doao.  " 


«  • 


OONTENTa 


Translator's  Preface, 

Dedicatory  Letter,  .  *" 

Tii 

CHAPTER  I. 
John  CabofB  Native  Land.  '  '*•■ 

CHAPTER  IL 

'^Z^Z~Jl^T^''°T'^  Enpland.-Voyagesof  th» People  of  tbe North 
Selrt  ^'"'-^^^'^  "^  J^l'"  Cabot.-His  Endowments  of  Mind  and 

3* 

CHAPTER  HL 
The  First  Discovery  of  1494 

CHAPTER  IV. 

^Ufl/*'';;;"^:?  ,^'"f '*"*  ^'  *^^  '^»*  J""^"  Cabot  arst  discovered  in 
1494 -Attempt  to  deprive  him  of  ihe  honor  «n 

'  "  •  •  •  •  01/ 

CHAPTER  V.  • 

ThoFirstLettersPatent.-Expeditiuuof  1497,    *.....        M 

CHAPTER  VI. 

CHAPTER    J. 

Sebastian  Cabot.  ' 

• W 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

Expedition  of  1498 

' 90 

CHAPTER  IX. 

A  Period  of  Obscurity, 

110 

CHAPTERX. 
SebasUan  Cabot  passes  to  the  service  of  Spain,       ,       .  .       .       116 


11  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XI. 

FAflX 

Sebastian  Cabot  back  in  England 121 

CHAPTER  r.n. 

Sebastian  Cabut  discovered  the  Strait  and  Bay  which  were  afterwards 
named   from   Hudson, 128 

CHAPTER  Xra. 

Return    to  Spain, 138 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

Repented  attempts  to  find  a  passage  throuL'h  the  new  lands  6t  America  to 
reach  the  eastern  shore  of  Asia. — Magellaii. — Resentment  of  Portugal 
against  Spain  on  account  of  his  voyage 147 

'  CHAPTER  XV. 

Sebastian  Cabot  put  at  the  head  of  an  expedition  to  the  Moluccas,  151 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

Sailic  I  of  the  expedition, >.       •        •       •       161 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

Continuation  oi  the  voyage, 177 

CHAPTER  XVm. 
Exploration  of  the  River  La  Pliitii,        ......        .106 

CHAPTER  XIX. 
Diego  Garcia,  .        .        .        ....        .        •        •        •       •        814 

CHAPTER  XX.  -    >    v; 

Cabot's  Return  to  Spain,         .........       226 

CHAPTER  XXI, 

Arrival  in  Spain, »••   245 

CHAPTER  XXII. 

Return  to  England,    . 261 

CHAPTER  XXIII. 
Project  of  navigation  to  the  North-East .272 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 
Expedition  to  the  North-East 383 

CHAPTER  XXV 
Sfbasiian  Cabot's  Death,        .        .        .       .       »       •       .       .        •       302 
Appendix,       ,..•...•.••«      818 


JOHN  AND  SEBASTIAN  CABOT. 


CHAPTER  I. 


John  CaboVs  native  land.* 


August  11th,  1472,  the  senate  of  Venice,  Nicholas  Trono 
Doge,  conferred  citizenship  of  Venice,  by  virtue  of  a  new  natur- 
alization law,  on  one  Luigi  Fontana  of  Bergamc'.  Many  others, 
after  Fontana,  obtained  the  same  Venetian  naturalization,  but 
in  their  case  the  secretary  of  the  senate  instead  of  register- 
ing the  whole  decree  eacn  time,  merely  recorded  that  the  same 
privilege  as  to  Fontuna  was  granted  to  such  a  one  on  such 
a  day  and  yeai-  :  simile  privilsgiv.m  factv,m  fv.it  promdo  viro  etc. 
Among  tlio  names  so  mentioned  we  find  tiiat  of  John  Cabot  for 
tlie  year  1476,  and  this  is  the  first  appearance  ofthat  name  in 
history,  f 

The  naturalization  conferred  by  Venice,  not  considering  or- 
dinary citizenship  which  had  its  special  duties  and  rights,  was 
of  two  sorts,  one  inferior,  called  de  intus,  the  other  greater,  and 
called  dc  intus  etextra:hoih  had  to  be  voted  by  the  senate.  The 
citizenship  de  intus  only  admJtted  to  certain  inferior  emplo)"^- 
ments  and  the  exel-cise  of  certain  rights  within  the  city;  that  of 
intus  et  extra  extended  also  to  all  the  rights  of  a  Venetian 
citizen  outside  of  Venice.     John  Cabot  received  this  latter 


*  See  Appendix  1. 

t  Simile  privilegium  factum  fuit  Jnanni  Cabwto  rub  dnce  cuprascripto  1476. 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CAB01. 


[I  h 


and  by  unanimous  vote  on  March  28,  1476.*  To  acquire  this 
citizensliip,  besides  services  to  the  Republic,  only  two  condi- 
tions were  at  that  time  requisite,  namely,  uninterrupted  resi- 
dence in  Venice  for  15  years  at  least,  and  to  have  borne  during 
that  period  the  burdens  and  imposts  of  the  Venetian  govern- 
ment.f 

But  whence  did  he  come  ?  where  was  he  born  ? 

Till  within  a  few  years  this  question  had  not  aroused  the 
curiosity  of  the  learned  ,  and  as  the  few  documents  concerning 
him  spoke  of  him  as  a  Venetian,  he  was  always  called  so 
without  further  inquiry.  The  question  was  started  by  a 
document  discovered  by  a  Prussian,  G.  A.  Borgenroth  in  the 
archives  of  Simancas.:j:  This  document  is  a  cypher  despatch 
which  Don  Pedro  de  Ayala,  Spanish  ambassador  to  the  Eng- 
lish court,  sent  to  his  sovereigns  July  25,  1498,  informing 
them  of  the  discovery  made  by  the  English  of  certain  islands 
and  continents,  encroaching,  as  he  believed,  on  the  rights  of 
Spain.  Now  Ayala  in  Ms  dispatch  calls  the  discoverer  of 
these  islands  a  Genoese  like  Colnmhns,  and  in  two  other  places 
where  he  mentions  him,  he  calls  him  a  Genoese.  The  discoverer 
of  whom  he  is  speaking  is  .John  Cabot.  Later,  the  searches 
of  Henry  Harrisse  brought  to  light  from  the  same  archives 
two  despatches  of  Ruy  Gonzales  do  Puebla,  anotlier  Spanish 
ambassador  to  England,  in  which  John  Cabot  is  also  given 
as  a  Genoese.  Moreover,  he  is  likewise  called  a  Genoese  in 
some  English  chronicles,  which  words  had  escaped  the  atten- 


*1476  die  28  Martii,  Quod  fiat  piivilcgium  cirilitatis  de  intus  et  extra 
Joanni  Caboto  per  habitationem  annorum  xv.  juxta  consuetum.De  parte  149. De 
no>i  O.  Nou  sinceri  O.  This  document  is  taken  from  the  records  of  tlie  Vene- 
tian Senate,  aeries  called  Senato-Terra,  as  relating  lO  the  government  of  the 
main-lf.nd,  and  commencing  in  1440.  It  was  first  published  by  Romanin, 
iStoria  Documentata  T.  iv.  p.  453. 

f  Q"icumque  annis  xv.  vcl  inde  supra,  Vcnetiis  coutiuue  habitasset ; 
factiones  et  onera  nostri  dominii  ipso  tempore  subeundo  a  modo  civis  ct 
Venetua  aosttr  esset. 

X  Simaucas  isji  small  city  in  the  province  of  Valladolid,  in  t|ie  castle  of  which 
the  Spanish  archives  are  kept,  uot  only  those  of  the  Peninsula  and  the  adjacent 
islands,  but  also  those  of  the  former  Spanish  states  iq  Flanders,  Italy,  and 
Portugal. 


VEXETIAN  CLAIM.  O 

tion   of  historians  until  Borgenroth's  discovery  started  the 
qi.estion  as  to  tlie  native  land  of  John  Cabot. 

The  learned  Prussian's  discovery  was  joyfully  received  by 
the  patriotic  Ligurians  who  labored  witli  praiseworthy  zeal 
to  find  further  support  for  the  vague  assertions  of  the  Spanish 
ambassadors  and  the  English  chronicles.  On  the  other  side, 
the  Venetians,  who  luul  always  before  been  proud  of  John 
Cabot  as  a  fellow-countryman  were  not  idle,  but  wiped  the 
dust  off  charters  and  documents  to  combat  the  pretensions  of 
Genoa  and  confirm  their  own  claims.  But  the  result  of  ihe  re- 
searches was  not  satisfactory  to  the  zeal  of  either  side.  At  Venice 
tradition  would  have  him  born  in  an  insignificant  place  called 
Castello,  peopled  mainly  by  sea-faring  men,  and  the  zealous 
inhabitants  inscribed  this  tradition  on  a  stone  for  the  infor- 
mation of  strangers  ;  but  it  had  no  better  or  older  con- 
firmation than  an  anonymous  article  in  a  Venetian  journal  of 
the  last  century  containing  these  words  :  "It  is  the  constant  and 
undoubted  report  that  he  was  a  Venetian,  and  rv3  are  able  to 
assert  that  he  was  born  at  Castello,"*  Carlo  Bulk)  patriotically 
claims  for  his  own  Chioggia  the  honor  of  being  the  cradle  of 
John  Cabot,  but  only  his  love  of  his  own  country  could  have 
discovered  any  argument  or  indication  in  support  of  his  claim  ; 
fo^  here  too  all  depends  on  the  authority  of  an  anonymous 
writer  in  an  annual  of  1786,  who  says  :  "Cabot,  a  V^enetian, 
bor)i  at  Chioggia  discovered  North  America  for  the  English."f 
What  proof  do  these  anonymous  writers  bring  of  their 
assertion  ?  None  whatever. 

Foderico  Stefani  expressed  a  doubt  that  the  name  Caboto 
was  originally  written  Cha'  Botto  or  Ca  Botto,:|:  which  would 
be  a  strong  proof  that  he  was  a  Venetian,  for  this  cha'  or 
ca',  an  abbreviation  of  Casata  (house  or  family),  is  very  com- 
mon in  Venetian  surnames,  as  may  be  seen  in  the  historic  sur- 


*  Minerva,  a  Venetiaa  journal,  1763,  cited  by  Pasini,  1  Navigatori  at  Polo 
Artico,  Venezia,  1880. 

tC.  Bullo,  La  Vera  Patria  di  Mcoldde'  CoriH  e  di Giovanni  Caboto,  Chioggia, 
Duse,  1880. 

t  See  ArcJdvio  storico  di   T  jw«trt— Essay  by  Rawdon  Brown.    Venezin, 
Autonel!!,  1865,  n.  143. 


4  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CABOT. 

names,  Ca'da  Mosto,  Ca'da  Pesaro,  and  also  in  those  of  many 
city  families.  The  doubt  is  ingenious,  and  if  it  cotdd  be  sup- 
ported by  any  instance  of  ancient  spelling  it  might  be  of 
some  weight  in  favor  of  Venice,  but  no  such  instance  can 
be  found. 

The  investigation  has,  then,  been  wholly  fruitless,  so  far  as 
concerns  Venice. 

On  the  part  of  Genoa,  the  most  pains-taking  investigator 
has  been  Cornelio  Desirxxoni,  but  at  the  conclusion  of  his 
labor  he  was  forced  to  confess  that  he  had  unfortunately  been 
able  to  find  nothing.*  Reducing  the  matter,  then,  to  simple 
induction,  he  is  inclined  to  look  for  the  birthplace  of  John 
Cabot  in  Savona,  because  he  finds  in  that  city  two  surnames, 
one  not  very  dissimilar  to,  the  other  very  like  that  he  is 
in  search  of,  namely,  the  patrician  family  of  Gavotto,  and  the 
plebeian  Cabuto.  The  former  furnished  masters  of  ships  in 
the  very  days  of  John  Cabot  ;  the  second  can  be  traced  back 
in  the  history  of  Genoa  as  far  as  the  XII  century  undei  the 
name  of  Cabutius  or  Cabutus  ;  and  contemporary  with  John 
Cabot  there  were  several  persons  named  Cahutto,  amongst 
others  one  Sebastian.  Again  we  meet  a  Sebastian  Cabutus 
in  the  XVI  century.f  This  repetition  of  the  name  Sebastian  in 
the  same  family  would  not  be  without  weight  in  our  case,  as 
one  of  the  three  sons  of  John  Cabot  wa»  also  called  by  that 
name,  considering  the  custom  then  and  now,  and  much 
more  then  than  now,  of  renewing  in  families  from  generation 
to  generation  the  names  of  those  who  have  gone  before.  And 
not  only  at  Savona  but  also  in  many  other  parts  of  Liguria, 
!ire  found  surnames  more  or  less  resembling  Caboto,  and  even 
at  Port  Maurice  the  same  surname  is  sometimes  met  with.;}: 


*"It  will  naturally  be  asked  if  any  trace  can  be  found  'n  our  documents  of 
Buch  events,  persons,  ana  families.  Unhappily  we  have  found  nothing,  or  the 
same  as  nothing.  Still  here  are  at  least  some  hints  of  family  names."  From 
the  Oiornale  Ligustieo.  Anno  1.  Sugli  Scopritori  Qenovesi,  p.  314.  Id.  Intomoa 
Oiovanni  Caboto,  Qeuovese,  Documenli,  etc.  Oenova  Istituto  del  Surdi-Muti, 
1881. 

f  Id.  Sugli  Seopritori  Oenovesi,  p.  314—316. 

X  "We  have  documents  proving  tliat,  the  family  of  Caboto  (written  precisely 
as  John  used  to  sign  it)  exists  in  Port  Maurice  from  the  year  1253  and  down 


Genoa's  claims.  6 

But  similar,  and  jven  identical,  surnames  are  found  in 
every  part  of  Italy,  even  in  i)laces  the  farthest  apart,  without 
any  presumption  of  relationship.  Harrisse  has  found  in 
notarial  acts  115  Columbuses  all  living  in  the  XIV  and  XV 
century  at  Genoa  and  in  its  environs  ;  and  amongst  them 
were  several  with  a  father  Domenico  and  a  grandfather  Gio- 
vanni, precisely  like  Christopher  Columbus  :  and  yet,  in  spite 
of  the  concordance  of  date  and  the  identity  of  baptismal  name, 
not  one  had  any  degree  of  consanguinity  with  Christopher 
Columbus.*  And  this  is  easily  explained  when  we  remember 
the  arbitrary  and  loose  way  in  which  surnames  were  formed  in 
the  middle  ages,  f  And  even  if  this  argument  based  on  the 
similarity  of  surname  were  valid,  it  would  not  help  us  much, 
for  surnames  resembling  Caboto,  are  not  wanting  even  in 
the  dogeate  of  Venice;}:  and  a  single  one  w'ould  invalidate  the 
argument  in  favor  of  other  places. 

So  that  it  is  clear  that  this  argument,  unaccompanied  by 
others  to  support  it,  can  be  no  guide  in  the  obscurity  through 
which  we  are  passing. 

Some  seem  to  have  found  a  strong  basis  for  Genoa's  claims 
in  a  dispatch  from  Raimondo  da  Soncino,  the  Duke  of  Mil- 
an's ambassador  to  England,  who  when  writing  to  his  mas- 
ter of  the  return  of  John  from  his  voyage  of  discovery, 
among  many  other  things  reports  that  the  discoverer  "has 
given  an  island  to  a  certain  barber  of  his  from  the  neighbor- 
hood of  Genoa."  §  By  barbers,  at  that  time,  not  only  the  vul- 
gar, but  even  the  law  meant  the  lower  class  of  surgeons.  ||  But 
that  possessive  pronoun  hia  sounded  to  their  ears  as  though 
it  had  been   his  felloiv-countryman,  and  therefore  they  made 


through  an  uninterrupted  series  of  jrenerations  as  far  as  the  end  of  the  XV 
century,"  G.  Doneaud,  I  CaMo  di  Porto  Maurko  in  the  Provincia,  a  weekly 
journal  of  Port  Maurice,  19  Nov.  1881.  In  tlie  number  for  Nov.  26,  the 
author  cites  in  support  notarial  instruments  of  1252,  1276,  and  1434, 

*Jean  et  SeMstien  Cabot,  par  Henry  Harrisse,  Paris,  Leroux,  1883,  p.  12. 

+  See  my  article  Sui  Sopranomi,  in  the  Rassegna  Nazionale,  Anno  ix.  PI- 
renze,  Cellini,  1888. 

X  See  Bullo,  1.  c.  p.  xxx. 

8  See  App.  xiii. 

I  See  Desimoni,  Intorno  a  Oiovanni  Caboto  etc.,  p.  87. 


6 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CABOT. 


I.-; 


John  born  in  the  Ligurian  Castiglione,  a  small  hamlet  in  the 
neighborhood  of  Chiavari.*  But  such  interpretation  of 
the  pronoun  Jm  seems  to  me  too  arbitrary  ;  nor  did  any 
one  ever,  on  licaring  a  man  speak  of  his  servant,  suppose 
him  to  mean  that  the  servant  was  born  in  the  same  place  as 
himself. 

Since,  then,  the  most  diligent  research  has  failed  to  con- 
firm or  refute  the  generic  assertions  of  the  two  Spanish  ambas- 
sadors and  the  English  chronicles  cited,  there  is  nothing  left 
but  to  examine  these  assertions  by  themselves  and  determine 
what  force  they  have  or  may  have.  To  do  this  it  will  not  only 
greatly  help  us,  but  it  is  even  necessary  to  hear  the  others  first 
who  say  John  Cabot  was  simply  a  Venetian,  giving  the  name 
of  his  adoptive  country,  without  regard  to  the  place  of  his 
birth. 

First  comes  John  himself,  in  his  petition  to  the  King  of 
England  March  5,  1496, — "  To  the  King  our  sovereign  lord. 
Please  it  your  highnes.  .  .  to  graunt  unto  John  Cabotto  citizen 
of  Venice."f  'i'lie  King  follows  the  same  in  the  letters  patent 
granted  in  conformity  with  the  petition  :  "  Be  it  known  and 
manifest  that  we  have  given  and  granted  to  our  beloved  John 
Cabotto  Citizen  of  Venice  and  his  sons,  otc.":j:  Next  comes  Lo- 
renzo Pasqualigo,  a  Venetian  merchant  settled  in  Bristol  who 
was  present  when  John  Cabot  returned  from  his  discovery,  and 
witnessed  the  great  demonstration  made  in  his  honor  by  the 
English.  Writing  of  which  immediately  afterwards  to  Venice 
he  not  only  calls  him  repeatedly  a  Venetian,  but  takes  note 
with  the  lively  pride  of  a  fellow-citizen  of  the  honor  paid  to  the 
flag  of  Venice.  "This  Venetian  of  ours  is  come. . .  and  is  with  his 
Venetian  wife  .  .  .  and  planted  on  the  lands  he  discovered  a 
great+with  an  PjUglish  standard  and  one  of  St.  Mark,he  being 
aA'^enetian,  so  that  our  ensign  has  been  carried  far,"§  Don  Rai- 


*M.  d'  Avezac,  Les  Natigatiomterre-neuviennes  de  Jean  etSebastien  Cabot,  In 
the  Bulletin  de  la  noeiete  de  geographie,  Tome  xviii,  Paris,  1869. 

t  See  Appendix  xv. 

i"Notum  sit  et  manifestnm  qnod  (]ediransetcouce8simu3...di!ec*.i3  nobis  Jo- 
hanni  Cabotto,  civi  Venetiarun  etc.  filii8....dicti,.  .Joliannis."  See  Appendix  v, 

g  See  App.  X. 


1 

h 

-^^I^^B 

c 

iwSSt 

m 

'#k^|B 

ss'isBk 

i^,?^m 

fei^gflB 

.ii'.-''-lxWm 

m 

\ 

CONTEMrOUARY  DOCUMENTS. 


3S 


Cabot,  in 


nobis  Jo- 
lendix  v. 


mondo  da  Soncino  ain'oassador  of  thoDukeofMilan  toE- .gland, 
also  wrote  at  once  to  the  duke,  and  in  his  dispatch  gives  the 
discovery  as  made  by  a  Venetian  :— "Item  the  King's  Majesty 
had  sent  a  Venetian  some  months  ago."*  And  writing  again  on 
the  18th  of  December  of  the  same  year,  he  continues  to  speak 
of  him  in  the  same  manner  :  "There  is  a  popular  Venetian  in 
this  Kingdom  named  messer  Zoanne  Caboto."t 

The  King  of  England  grants  fresh  letters  patent  February 
3,  1498,  in  which,  and  in  tiie  address  which  precedes  them, 
John  is  always  called  a  Venetian  citizen  :  "Please  it  your  High- 
nosse  ...  to  graunte  John  Kabotto  Veneciane  .  .  .  We 
graunte  to  our  well  beloved  John  Kabotto  Venician.  .  ."+      ^ 

The  documents  mentioned  are  all  from  contemporaries  who 
knew  John  Cabot  personally  and  spoke  with  him,  and  were 
all  written  in  his  life-time.  To  these  I  may  add  the  words  of 
Sebastian  Cabot,  which,  though  written  many  years  after  the 
death  of  John,  still,  as  those  of  his  son,  luay  b*^  considered  iS 
cont  mporary.  Sebastian,  in  his  chart  of  1544,  near  the  newly 
discovered  land  placed  this  inscription  :  "This  land  was  dis- 
covered by  John  Cabot  Venetian.  "§ 

In  the  documents,  then,  which  have  reached  us  and  in  the 
public  and  private  charts,  all  the  contemporaries  and  acquaint- 
ances of  John  Cabot  call  him  a  Venetian.  The  only  excep- 
tions to  this  rule  beginning  with  an  unknown  merchant  and 
continued  by  ambassadors  and  ministers  and  the  king  himself, 
are  the  two  Spanish  ambassadors.  Was  it  accidental,  or  was 
there  a  reason  for  it  ?  If  accidental,  it  is  not  worth  discussing  : 
if  there  was  a  reason,  it  should  arise  from  the  conditions  of  the 
times,  the  facts,  or  the  persons.  Lot  us  then  briefly  recall 
these  conditions,  and  let  the  necessity  be  an  excuse  for  antic- 
il)ating  mention  of  events  which  must  be  told  over  again 
later  at  greater  length. 

After  repeated  attempts  John  Cabot   had  discovered  a  new 

*  See  App.xii. 

t  See  App.  xiil,  j  See  App.  xiv. 

§  "Esta  tierra  fue  descublerta  por  Juan  Caboto,  Veneciano,  y  Sebastian 
Caboto  su  hijo,  anno  del  nascimiento  de  nuestro  Salvador  Jesu  Cliristo  de 
mccccxciiii." 


8 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CABOT. 


n 

Ml 


land,  and  applied  to  tho  King  of  England,  in  reliance  on  this 
discovery,  for  license  and  privileges  for  further  voyages  and 
discoveries.  Henry  VII  consented  and  on  the  5th  of  March  1496 
granted  the  letters  patent  asked  for.  Spain  at  this  time  was 
all  eyes  to  guard  against  a  surprise  being  attempted  from  any 
side  against  tho  privileges  the  bull  of  Alexander  VI  gave  her 
over  all  discoveries  made  or  to  be  made  beyond  the  line  of 
partition  fixed  by  that  pope  himself.*  It  was  therefore  natural 
that  Puebla,  her  ambassador  to  the  court  of  England,  as  soon 
as  informed  of  the  negotiations  of  John  Cabot  with  Henry 
VII,  should  at  once  report  them  to  his  government.  This  re- 
port he  sent  on  the  21st  of  January  1496,  that  is  to  say,  forty 
days  before  the  letters  patent  received  the  royal  signature.  So 
great  had  been  his  watchfulness  to  learn  and  make  known  the 
result.  Puebla's  dispatch  is  unfortunately  lost,  but  its  loss  so 
far  as  concerns  the  present  question  is  supplied  by  the  answer 
of  the  Spanish  sovereigns,  which  undoubtedly  according  to 
the  custom  of  al)  state  offices  repeated  in  reply  tho  very  words 
used  in  the  dispatch.  Now  the  Spanish  chancery  made  this 
answer  :  "As  to  what  you  say  that  one  like  Columhua  has  gone 
there  to  put  England  on  an  undertaking  like  that  of  the  In- 
dies. .  *\  This  shows  clearly  that  Puebla,  when  v/riting  his 
dispatch,  wholly  intent  on  the  danger  threatening  Spain,  had 
so  little  in  view  the  person  of  the  discoverer  that  in  order  to 
indicate  him  he  uses  the  most  general  and  vague  expressions 
and  only  says  otie;  "One  has  gone  there  like  Columbus,"  etc. 
And  in  fact  what  difference  did  it  make  in  the  danger  to 
Spain  whether  he  was  an  Englishman,  or  a  foreigner  in  the 
service  of  England  ?  What  was  important  for  the  ambassador 
to  make  known,  and  for  Spain  to  learn,  was  that  an  expedition 
like  that  of  Columbus  was  preparing  for  the  discovery  of  new 
regions  for  the  benefit  of  England.  The  name  of  the  leader 
of  the  expedition  was  so  little  important  to  be  known,  that  it 
could  very  well  be  omitted  entirely  without  at  all  diminish- 

*Fernando  Colombo,  i/istone,  c.  xlii.—Heriera,  Hist.  Ind.  Dec.  1.  lib.  xx. 
c.  4.— Navarrete,  Colec,  Dipt,  xxiii. 

t"  Quanto  a  lo  que  desis  que  alia  es  yda  wo  como    colon  pain  poncr  el  Rey 
de  Inglaterraen  otro  negocio  como  el  de  la8  yndiiis.  .  ."    See  App.  vl. 


m 


etc. 


^ 


rUEnLA's  DISPATCHES. 


9 


inff  the  danger  or  importance  of  the  matter.  And  to  have 
culU'd  liim  one  without  uny  addition  of  country  or  nation,  is 
iMluivalcnt  to  omitting  liim  altogotlier.  But  do  not  tlio  words 
like  OtlnmbvH,  hint  from  what  part  ho  came  ?  Not  at  all : 
tliey  simply  mean  that  the  discoverer  wished  to  do  for  Eng- 
land what  Columhus  had  done  for  Spain,  and  it  is  easy  to  un- 
derstand that  this  comparison  would  occur  at  once  to  the 
writer's  mind  when  the  purport  of  the  dispatch  was  precisely 
to  prevent  any  one  from  entering,  to  the  injury  of  Spain,  on 
the  way  opened  hy  ChristoTiher  Columhuj. 

But  the  pressure  ana  soliox.a'ion  of  Spain  had  no  tjffect,  and 
John  Cabot  continued  on  his  road  of  discovery.  During  the  ex- 
pedition of  lli>8,  Puebla  writes  again  to  his  sovereigns  :  and  in 
this  dispatch  the  expression  which  lie  uses  to  designate  him, 
while  remaining  just  as  uncertain  as  to  the  person  of  the  dis- 
coverer, is  a  little  more  definite  as  to  the  place  from  which  the 
discoverer  came  :  and  where  he  at  first  had  simply  said  "One 
like  Crlumbus,"  he  now  says,  "  Another  Genoese  like  Colum- 
bus "*  Did  this  addition  drop  casually  from  Puebla's  pen  without 
any  attention  on  his  part,  or  did  he  write  it  with  deliberate  pur- 
pose ?  Let  us  first  examine  the  second  supposition.  As  to  the 
fact  itself  of  the  discovery  and  of  the  danger  to  Spain,  we 
have  seen  that  it  \\rs  not  affected  one  atom  either  way  by  the 
person  of  the  discoverer ;  Puebla  could  then  have  had  no 
motive  for  the  addition  on  this  account.  Was  he  led  to  make 
it  by  any  reason  which  he  saw  in  the  person  of  the  sovereigns 
to  whom  he  was  writing  ?  What  did  it  matter  to  Ferdinand  and 
Isabella  whether  that  discoverer  was  a  Genoese  or  a  Venetian  ? 
The  motive  then  must  be  looked  for  in  the  person  of  Puebla 
himself.  But  what  could  it  have  been  ?  To  defend  this 
honor  for  Genoa  ?  But  what  glory  for  Genoa  was  the  dis- 
covery made  by  John  Cabot  in  face  of  that  of  Chris- 
topher Columbus  ?  And  to  Puebla,  a  Spaniard,  what  mat- 
tered the  glory  of  Genoa  ?  It  was  not  zeal  of  patriotic 
affection.     Was  it  a  pedantic  itching  for  historical  accuracy  ? 


*  El  Rey  de  Inglaterra  embio  cinco  nans  armadas  cnu  otro  genovet  eomo  colon 
a  buscar  la  isla  de  Brazil."  See  App.  xv. 


10 


THE  LIFK  OF  .TOIIX  ('A150T. 


ri  ■! 


i 


1 


'!i, 


It  is  ridiculous  to  tliink  so.  Puc'l)]n's  intorcst  in  determining 
accurately  tlio  person  of  llie  discoverer  was  so  great  that  ho 
never  mentions  Ids  name  or  surname,  but  calls  liim  simply 
another  (lenocHe.  And  if  we  luid  not  learnt  fiom  other  do(!U- 
ments  tliat  the  author  of  the  discovery  re[)orted  by  him  to  his 
sovereigns  was  John  (-abot,  with  all  his  dispatches  we  should 
still  bo  ignorant  who  th'm  other  was  who  was  put  by  England 
on  the  same  career  as  Columbus.  And  even  admitting  that 
Puebla,  contrary  to  the  common  practice  of  calling  him  a 
Veneti'in,  had  wished  to  designate  his  true  countrjs  what 
could  history  gain  from  the  accuracy,  if  the  disi)atch  wa..  in 
cypher  and  was  to  remain  buiicMJ  in  the  archives  and  hidden 
from  all  eyes  ?  AV^as  Tuebla,  again,  a  num  to  trouble  1dm- 
self  about  these  historical  ininuim  ?  The  little  wc  know  of 
lum  shows  him  to  have  been  venal,  grasping,  and  niggard 
to  a  degree  hardly  credible  of  one  in  liis  high  position.'* 
Such  are  not  the  kind  of  persons  to  busy  themselves 
with  historical  sweepings. — But  he  was  in  close  relation 
with  the  Genoese  merchants  in  London,  and  n\ight  have 
had  from  them  exact  information  about  Cabot. — His  relation 
with  the  Genoese  is  very  true,  but  the  only  document  that 
records  it  shows  that  its  purpose  was  to  fill  his  coffers 
M'ith  gold,  not  historical  research.f  And  in  regard  to  these 
Genoese  merchants,  we  saw  a  short  while  ago  a  Venetian  mer- 
chant writing  at  once  to  Venice  to  give  notice  of  the  dis- 
covery and  relating  it  with  great  satis  "<^.ction  as  conferring 
glory  on  Ids  country.  Is  there  any  record  of  any  Genoese 
writing  about  it  to  Genoa  ?    And  yet  amongst  those  merchants 


*  See  in  Bergenroth's  Calendar  of  Spanish  state  papers  (vol.  i,  No.  206,  207, 
p.  166),  the  petition  of  the  Spanish  merchants  against  him,  and  Dr.  Breton's  let- 
ter—From H.  Harrisse,  1.  c.  p.  19.— Puebla  was  accustomed  to  visit  the 
English  court  very  often.  One  day  King  Henry  asked  his  court  if  they  knew 
why  Dr.  Puebla  came,  and  they  replied,  "to  eat."  lb.  Rep.  from  London,  no. 
204,  207. 

■f-The  Genoese  merchants  had  incurred  a  certain  penalty,  and  employed  Tuebla 
to  procure  their  discharge.  He  obtained  their  pard)n,  but  demanded  500 
crowns  for  recompense  ;  whereupon  the  Spanish  rierchants  were  greatly 
shocked  and  denounced  him  to  the  commissioners  sent  m  1498  to  inquire  into  his 
conduct. 


puebla's  ptspatches. 


11 


tliore  were  some  of  ji:rent  merit,  so  much  so  that  the  Kiu^  of 
Ku^fland  employed  them  on  dii)h>matic  missions  to  the  Pope 
iin<l  to  the  King  of  Fiance.*  So  that  they  were  persons  well 
litted  to  understand  the  importance  of  the  discovery  made 
hy  Joiin  Cahot,  and  the  j?lory  that  resulted  from  it  for 
G((noa,  if  that  was  his  country. — It  may  be  answered  that 
not  Hnding  any  document  recording  it  is  no  proof  that  it 
never  occurred.  That  is  very  true ;  but  we  can  find  the  dispatches 
of  Don  Raimondo  da  Soncino,  ambassador  of  the  Duke  of 
iMilan  to  England.  And  as  Genoa  was  at  this  time  under  that 
'hike,  Soncino  was  naturally  in  closer  relation  with  those  mer- 
chants than  any  other  diplomatist :  and  if  any  anibas.sador 
was  likely  to  be  interested  in  announcing  that  Cabot  was 
a  Genoese,  it  would  be  Soncino  who  in  writing  to  his  duke  was 
relating  the  glory  of  one  who  would  have  been  his  subject. 
But  we  have  seen  that  Don  Raimondo  in  both  his  dispatches 
calls  hi*n  a  Venetian  :  and  it  is  noteworthy  that  in  the  second 
he  not  only  reports  having  conversed  personally  with  Cabot, 
but  also  gives  a  long  summary  of  the  discourses  he  had  lieard 
from  him  concerning  his  plans  for  further  voyages  and  dis- 
coveries. There  was  no  want  of  opportunity  for  him  to  hear 
from  the  very  mouth  of  John  the  real  fact  about  his  country, 
and  he  had  a  moct  natural  occasion  to  mention  the  matter 
where  he  relates  that  Cabot  had  promised  an  island  "to  a  cer- 
tain barber  of  his  from  the  neighborhood  of  Genoa."  Would  not 
this  name  have  recalled  at  once  to  his  mind  that  Cabot  too  was 
a  Genoese  ?  But,  instead,  he  always  speaks  of  him  as  a  Venetian, 
a  popular  Venetian.^ 

When  a  man  has  come  to  England  as  a  Venetian  citizen, 
has  for  18  years  enjoyed  in  the  Venetian  colony  the  benefits 
granted  to  Venetians  by  treaties  and  conventions,  has  never 
presented  himself  in  public  or  in  private  but  in  the  legal 
garb  of  a  Venetian,  and  was  known  wherever  he  went  as  a 
Venetian,  why  should  a  man  like  Puebla,  contrary  to  the  cus- 
tom and  opinion  of  everybody  else,  call  such  man  a  Genoese  ? 

We  may  revolve  the  matter  over  and  over,  but  we  shall  not 
discover  why.  There  only  remains,  then,  the  other  supposition 

*  See  Rawdon  Brown,  Calendar,  n.  785,  789.        f  See  App.  xii,  xiii. 


m 


WM. 


12 


THE  LIFE  OV  JOHN  CABOT. 


tliat  it  was  moroly  by  nwiMont  tlint  rii('l)lii  nttrihuted  fo 
JohnCJabot  nCJcnooHO  nalionality,  and  it  docs  not  sec  in  to  mo 
bard  to  disc-over  and  explain  bow  (iiis  biijux-ned.  It  was  in 
bis  second  dispateli  of  140S  tliiit  be  added  tbe  udjeetive  (icvovHv, 
wbereas  in  tbe  first  of  1400  be  liad  sind  indefinitely  (me.  Now 
it  sbould  be  said  tbat  Pnebla  at  tins  time  lay  under  most  se- 
rious ebarges.  Tbo  most  select  portion  of  tboso  be  represented, 
tbe  mcrcbants,  bad  presented  a  report  against  bim  to  tbo 
Spanish  government,  wbicb  regarded  tbo  case  as  important 
enougb  to  send  out  a  commission  of  incpiiry  into  bis  life  and 
conduct.  Meanwbilo  anotber  aiTibassador  was  as.sociated  witb 
bim,  on  pretext  of  aiding  bim  in  tbe  dispatcii  of  business  ;  but 
tbe  fact  was  clear  to  every  one,  as  following  close  on  tbe  cbarges 
that  until  things  wex'e  explained,  no  confidence  was  placed 
in  him.*  Now  it  was  in  such  state  of  feeling  that  Pucbla in- 
formed bis  government  of  John  Cabot's  new  departure. 
Tbe  dry  brevity  of  the  dispatch  shows  tbat  tbe  writer's  mind 
was  not  on  tbemotter,but  be  felt  obliged  by  bis  charge  to  say  a 
word  of  it.  He  wrote,  then,  tbat  one  like  Columhis  was 
leaving  with  a  squadron  for  new  discoveries  ;  and  since  this 
(me  was  not  an  Englishman,  but  came  like  Columbus  from 
Italy,  without  distinguishing  the  dilierent  provinces,  but 
hurriedly  announcing  the  fact,  and  as  tbe  Italian  of  Spain 
was  a  Genoese,  he  called  the  Italian  of  England  also  a  Genoese. 

How  then  about  the  dispatch  of  the  other  ambassador,  Don 
Pedro  de  Ayala,  where  not  once  only,  but  three  times  John 
Cabot  is  called  Genoese  ?  This  was  not  a  dispatch  written  in 
haste  and  almost  in  spite,  as  Puebla's  evidently  was,  but  is  a 
long  letter  with  many  details  and  minute  information. 

Before  answering  this  question,  let  us  see  who  Ayala  was 
and  what  were  his  duties. 

Don  Pedro  de  Ayala  was  the  ambassador  associated  with 
Puebla  when  the  charges  preferred  against  the  latter  had  de- 
termined the  government  to  inquire  into  their  truth.  It  is 
superfluous  to  say  that  the  two  ambassadors  were  crabbed 
enough  to  each  other,  and  had  only  that  intercourse  together 


*See  Bergenroth's  Calendar  of  State  Papers,  1.  c. 
ambassador  we  shall  speak  presently. 


As  regards  the  associate 


ayala'h  nisPATcrr. 


18 


wliicli  tlicir  oflioiiil  relation  doiriandod  :  Aynla  <lespisod  his 
collnifiiu',  wlio  repaid  liiiii  with  hatred.  When  John  (!ahnt 
left  on  his  new  voyage  Puehhi  thought  it  hiH(hityto  report  it 
to  liis  sovereigns,  and  wrote  his  laconic  disj)atch.  Wliethor 
Avala  considered  his  colleague's  account  too  meagre,  or 
wanted  to  exhihit  his  superior  usefulness,  ho  gathered  infor- 
mation concerning  the  voya/!;e  and  its  leader,  and  tnkinfj  his 
cdlhngne'Hlcttrr,  to  the  strictly  necessary  notice  which  this  con- 
tained ho  added  all  the  less  important  information  he  had 
gatliered,  which,  although  it  might  not  he  of  any  groat  interest 
to  Spain  to  know  it,  horo  witness  to  the  zeal  with  which 
Ayala  served  his  sovereigns.  I  say,  iah-'nuj  his  cnllragiui'H  letter, 
for  he  repeats  it  in  liis  own  word  for  word,  and  the  only  dif- 
ference in  the  two  is  that  Fuebla  wrote  drily  such  details  as 
were  absolutely  necessary,  and  Ayala  repeats  each  of  these  de- 
tails accompanying  them  with  such  information  of  secondary 
importance  as  he  hud  lieon  able  to  gather.  A  brief  comparison 
will  show  that  this  was  really  the  case. 

Puebla  says  :  Ayala  repeats  : 

"The  King  of  England  sent  "The  King  of  England  has 
five  armed  ships  with  another  armed  a  fleet  for  tlu;  purpose 
Gonoesclike  Columbus  to  seek    of  examining  certain  islands 

for  the  island  of  Brazil  and   and  mainland the  dis- 

neighboring  places  :  they  were  coverer  is  another  Genoese 
provisioned  for  a  year."  like  Columbus the  fleet 

was  composed  of  five  vessels 

with  provisions    for  a   year." 
Ayala  : 
"Considering  the  course  they 

take I    find   that   the 

course  they  take,  I  find  that  the  place  they  have  found  or  are 
place  they  are  seeking  is  a  part  seeking  is  a  part  of  what  be- 
of  your  Highnesses'  posses-  longs  to  your  Highnesses  by 
sions."  the  convention  with  Portugal. 

Their   return    is  expected  in 

September." 
Puebla  continues  :  Ayala  repeats  : 

"The  King    has  spoken  to      "The  King  has  spoken  to 


Puebla  goes  on  ; 
"They  say  they  will  return 
in  September.  Considering  the 


14 


THE  LIFE  OP  JOHN  CABOT. 


PI 


me  of  this  several  times  ;  he 
hopes  to  derive  very  great 
profit  from  it :  I  believe  it  is 
less  than  400  leagues  from  here 
to  those  places."* 


me  of  this  several  times  :  he 
hopes  to  derive  very  great 
profit  from  it :  I  believe  it  is 
less  than  400  leagues  from 
here  to  those  places."  f 


Puebla's  letter  is  here  given  entire;  the  dots  here  and  there  in 
Ayala's  show  where  ho  had  inserted  further  information, — pre- 
cious indeed  to  us  who  want  the  whole  history  of  Cabot,  but 
utterly  worihless  to  Spain  which  was  solely  impressed  by  the 
fact  of  the  discovery. 

Is  it  not  clearly  evident  that  Ayala  in  writing  his  dispatch 
had  before  his  eyes  that  of  Puebla,  and  repeated  not  only  tlio 
thoughts,  but  the  very  words  ?  Then,  so  far  as  the  present  ques- 
tion is  concerned,  Ayala's  dispatch  is  only  a  duplicate,  and  as 
such  has  and  can  have  no  weight  as  authority.  Puebla,  in  speak- 
ing of  the  English  discoverer,  had  used  the  expression  "another 
Genoese  like  Columbus"  and  Ayala  repeats  the  expression 
without  a  syllable's  change.  Nor  can  it  be  supposed  that  he  had 
had  time  or  opportunity  to  inquire  as  to  the  true  country  of 
John  Cabot,  for  he  had  only  recently  arrived  in  England,  his 
permanent  office  being  that  of  Ambassador  to  King  James  IV 
of  Scotland  ;  and  since  he  had  been  in  England,  we  know  from 
Soncino,  his  mo^t  frequent  and  intimate  conversation  was  with 
liim.ij:  So  that  his  most  natural  and  convenient  source  of  infor- 
mation would  have  been  Soncino,  who,  as  we  have  seen,  always 
calls  Cabot  a  Venetian.  And  whatever  furthur  det-ils  con- 


*  "  El  Rey  de  Inglaterra  imbio  cinco  naos armados  con  otto  Genoves como 
Colou  a  buscar  la  isl»  de  Brazil  y  las  vicinidades  ;  fueron  proveydos  por  ue  aflo. 
!>icen  que  seran  venidos  para  al  el  Beptiembre,  vista  la  derrota  que  llevan 
iiallo  que  lo  que  buscan  es  lo  que  voestras  Altezas  poseen,  el  Re  me  ha  fa- 
blado  algunas  vezes  sobrello  espera  liaver  muy  gran  interesse.  Creo  que  no 
iiay  de  aqui  alia  CCCC  leguas."  See  App.  xv. 

t  " el  Rey  de  Inglaterra  ha  fecho  armada  para  descubrir  ciertas  islas 

y  tierra  flrme el  ijventador  es  otro  genoves  como  Colon Del 

armada  que  hizo  que  fueron  cinco  naos  fuerou  avitallados  por  un  afio  .... 
vista  la  derrota  que  llevan  hallo  que  es  lo  que  han  hallado  o  buscan  lo  que 
vuestras  Altezas  poseen  .  .  .  sperase  seran  venidos  para  el  Septiembre.  .  .  .  E) 
Rey  de  Ynglaterra  me  ha  (ablado  algunas  vezes  sobre  ello.  .  Espera  aver  muy 
gran  interesse.  Creo  que  no  ay  qualro  cientos  leguas."    See  App.  xvi. 

t  See  Raw  ion  Brown,  Calendar  vol.  i,  n.  780,  783. 


THE  ENGLISH  CHRONICLES. 


15 


tnes :  ho 
ry  great 
Bvo  it  is 
cs    from 

t 

[  there  in 

)n, — pre- 

abot,  but 

id  by  the 

dispatch 
only  the 
ent  ques- 
ts, and  as 
in  speak- 
"aiiother 
xpression 
at  he  had 
ountry  of 
fland,  his 
Fames  IV 
ow  from 
was  witli 
of  infor- 
,  always 
ils  con- 


loves  como 
jor  UB  afio. 
Ique  llevan 
I  me  ha  fa- 
reo  que  no 

Hertas  islas 

Del 

a&o .... 

|an  lo  que 

re.  .  .  .  E) 

aver  muy 

ri. 


cerning  Cabot  are  furnished  by  Aya5a  all  concern  him  as  dis- 
coverer, that  is,  he  speaks  of  his  activity,  his  genius,  his  in- 
iluenco  with  the  seamen  of  Bristol ;  but  has  not  a  sylLnhle  in 
regard  to  him  personally  ab  an  individual.  Each  of  the  three 
times  when  he  lias  o(;casion  to  mention  him,  ho  never  uses  his 
name  or  surname,  but  always  indicates  him  by  the  general 
term  (kvocse,  which  he  had  found  in  Puebla's  disijatch. 

The  authority  of  Tuebla  is  therefore  of  no  force  ^n  the  pres- 
ent n^-'^stion;  that  of  Ayala,  of  none.  J  ; 

Let  us  come  now  to  the  chroniclers. 

The  English  chroniclers  of  the  first  half  of  the  XVI  century 
never  mention  the  name  of  Cabot  :  as  neither,  for  that  matter, 
do  they  mention  the  name  of  Christopher  Columbus  or 
Americo  Vespucci.* 

To  them  the  New  World  and  the  voyages  to  it  and  the  dis- 
coveries there  do  not  seem  to  have  existed.  This  silence  ceases 
in  1559,  in  reference  to  Wiiloughby  and  Chancellor's  voy- 
age to  the  east  by  way  of  the  northern  seas.  The  tragic  end  of 
the  brave  AVilloughby  was  probably  the  reason  of  their  record- 
ing it  rather  than  the  importance  of  the  expedition  itself. 
This  expedition,  as  we  shall  see,  was  principally  the  work  of 
Sebastian  Cabot,  the  son  of  John,  and  the  chroniclers  who  re- 


*  Not  to  be  continually  repeating  tl'e  citation  I  give  notice  liere,  once  for 
all,  that  ia  tiie  few  remarks  on  these  chroniclers  I  follow  Harrisse's  exposition 
in  his  Jean  et  Sebastien  Cabot,  p.  15  et  s.,  and  often  translate  his  words  literally. 

This  work  of  llanisse  and  Biddle's  Memoir  are  the  two  greatest  works 
written  on  the  history  of  the  Cabots.  But  neither  author  intended  to  give  a 
complete  work  on  the  two  voyagers.  But  the  different  q\iestions  they  under- 
took to  examine  they  investigated  with  much  depth  and  learning.  Ilarrisse, 
for  instance,  treats  iU  great  length  on  the  first  period  of  the  history  of  the 
Cabots,  but  skims  over  the  last  period  of  Sebastian's  residence  in  England,  and 
hardly  mentions  his  thirty  yeans'  scrvicein  Spain. 

Harrisse's  work  is  divided  into  four  parts  :  the  first  examines,  as  I  said,  the 
history  of  the  Cabots  ;  the  second  treats  of  the  cartography  of  the  first  half  of 
the  XVI  century  ;  the  third  gives  a  chronology  of  the  voyages  to  the  north  of 
Cape  Breton  from  that  of  .Tohn  Cabot  to  .John  Urdaire's  in  1550  ;  the  forrth 
collects  the  richest  appendix  of  documents  that  had  so  far  appeared  concern- 
ing the  Cabots.  A  bibliogrrphy  of  the  history  of  the  Cabots  is  addled  at  the 
end. 

How  much  I  have  availed  myself  of  these  two  authors  is  shown  by  the 
frequent  references  to  their  names  and  works. 


16 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CABOT. 


late  it,  show  the  very  important  part  which  he  had  in  it.  Thus 
the  Epitome  of  Chronicles  in  the  third  edition  which  was  pub- 
lished in  that  year.  1559,  in  the  second  part  when  relating  the 
expedition  of  Willoughby,  says  :  "  In  this  meane  whyle  there 
were  th.ae  noble  shippes  furnyshed  for  the  great  adventure 
of  the  unknown  viage  into  the  easte  by  the  north  seas.  The 
great  encourager  of  this  viage  was  Sebastian  Gaboto,  an  Eng- 
lisheman  borne  at  Bristow,  but  a  Genoways  sonne."  Ten  years 
later,  in  1569,  the  chronicle  of  Richard  Grafton  appeared,  and 
in  that  also  we  read  :  *'About  this  time  there  were  three 
noble  ships  set  forth  and  furnished  for  the  great  adventure  of 
the  unknown  voyage  into  the  east  by  the  North  seas.  The  great 
doer  and  encourager  of  which  voyage  was  Sebastian  Gaboto  an 
Englisheman  borne  at  Bristow,but  was  the  sonne  of  a  Genoway." 
Thirdly  come  the  chronicles  of  Raphael  Holhished,  repeating 
word  for  word  that  "  About  this  time  there  were  three  notable 
ships  set  forth  and  furnished  for  the  great  adventure  of  the  un- 
known voyage  into  the  east  by  the  north  seas.  The  great  doer 
and  encourager  of  which  voyage  was  Sebastian  Gaboto,  an 
Englisheman,  born  at  Bristow,but  was  the  son  of  a  Genowaies." 

It  is  remarkable  how  freely  the  old  chroniclers  copied  one 
another  without  giving  the  source  of  their  ntirrative.  But  even 
if  it  were  a  very  rare  occurrence,  could  there  be  the  least  doubt 
that  these  three  accounts  have  the  same  origin? — that,  Grafton 
copied  from  the  third  edition  of  the  Epitotne,  or  that  Holin- 
shed  copied  either  from  that  edition,  or  from  Grafton's  chron- 
icle, which  is  the  same  thing  ?  Consequently  the  whole  import- 
ance and  authority  of  the  account  rests  on  the  third  edition  of 
the  Epitome  of  Chronicles.  Now,  let  us  sec  what  that  is,  and 
what  credit  it  deserves. 

The  Epitome  of  Chronicles  is  only  the  chronicle  of  Thomas 
Lanquet  or  Lanquotte,  continued  down  to  the  reign  of  Eliza- 
beth.* The  first  edition  of  this  chronicle  ajipearcd  in  1549, 
and  naturally  makes  no  allusion  to  an  event  which  happened 
in  1553.  and  in  reference  to  which  the  name  of  Sebastian  Cabot 
is  introduced.      The  second  edition  came  out  in  1554  a  vear 


II 


*  Thomas  Lanquet  lived  from  1521  to  1545. 


THE  EPITOME  OF  CHRONICLES. 


17 


after  that  event,  but  no  copy  of  this  can  be  found*  The  third 
edition,  bearing  the  title  Dpitmic  of  Chronicles,  was  published 
at  London  in  1559,  by  Robert  Crowley.  It  is  divided  into 
three  parts  ;  the  first  gave  Lanquet's  chronicle,  the  second  re- 
produced the  part  added  by  Thomas  Cooper  in  1549,  and  the 
third  contained  the  new  addition  made  by  Crowley.f  The 
words  referring  to  Sebastian  Cabot  are  found  in  the  second 
part,  written  by  Bishop  Cooper.  Immediately  after  the 
publication  of  the  Kpitow.e,  Cooper  himself  gave  a  new 
edition,  which  was  the  fourth,  of  Lanquet's  chronicle,  with  the 
continuation  he  had  made  to  it,  and  again  printed  it, 
the  fifth  edition,  in  1565.  Now,  in  both  the  fourth 
and  tiie  fifth  edition,  Cooper  relates  the  voyage  of  1553 
with  the  same  details  that  are  found  in  the  third  edition 
published  by  Crowley  ;  but,  in  giving  the  name  of  the 
principal  author  and  promoter  of  it,  he  says  simply  that  it 
was  "Sebastian  Cabot,"  without  one  syllable  as  to  his  or  his 
father's  nationality.  How  was  this  ?  Cooper  himself  gives 
us  the  explanation  of  it  ;  for  in  both  the  fourth  and  fifth  edi- 
tion he  protests  against  every  sort  of  alteration,  by  omission 
or  addition,  which  Crowley  had  nuxde  in  his  work  for  the  edi- 
tion of  the  I'Jpifotnc  of  Chronicles.  "Wherein,"  he  says,  "  as  I 
saw  some  thynges  of  myne  lefte  out  and  many  thynges  of 
otliers  annexed  .  .  .  greatly  blame  their  unhonest  dealynge, 
and  openly  protest  that  the  Edicion  of  this  chronicle  set 
foorth  by  Marslie  and  Ceres  in  the  yere  of  Christ  1569  is  none 
of  myne. . ."  Thomas  Marshe  was  the  publisher,  William  Seres 
the  printer  of  the  Kpitovie. 

Consequently  the  Genoese  nationality  which  the  English 


rhomas 

If  Eliza- 

n  1549, 

Ippened 

Cabot 

a  year 


*  La  secondc  edition  est  de  1554.  Nous  n'  avons  pu  lu  trouver  da.is  les  bibli- 
tl)(\itics,  Hiirrisse.  p.  23. 

|-  An  Epitome  of  Chronicles,  contoyninge  the  whole  discourse  of  the  histories 
.  .  .(if  this  lealtne  of  Eiiglmid.  .  .  tirst  liy  Thomas  Lanquet,  secondly.  .  .  by 
Thomas  Coopek,  .  .  .  tliiidly.  .  .  by  liouKur  Crowi.ey.  Anno  1559.  Loudiiii,  In 
;i((iil)us  TliomiLs  Miirshe,  imprinted  at  London  l)y  Williiim  Sere.s, — Robert 
'lowley,  boru  in  the  first  15  years  of  IhoXVI  century,  deceased  In  1588,  wap 
at  once  publisher,  bookseller,  poet,  controversialist,  and  preacher  of  the  Re- 
fnrm,  of  wliich  he  was  one  of  the  most  zealous  apostles. — Thomas  Cooper  WM 
Ih-st  a  physician  and  afterwards  a  bi-liop  ;  born  .about  1617,  he  died  in  IftM, 


18 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CABOT. 


1   ;■. 


I, 


chronicles  bestow  on  John  Cabot  is  the  personal  assertion  of 
Crowley,  an  assertion  not  only  unsupported  by  documents,  but 
which  he  accompanies  with  a  falsehood,  attributing  it  to 
Cooper  who  had  not  made  it,  but  twice  denies  it.  Now,  what 
confidence  can  be  put  in  a  man's  assertion,  who  so  disingenu- 
ously lays  his  hand  on  another's  work,  alters  it  at  pleasure,  and 
deceives  us  in  giving  us  as  tJie  testimony  of  a  third  person 
what  is  nothing  but  his  own  caprice  ? 

But  why  should  Crowley  have  made  the  false  assertion  ? 
The  cause  is  clear.  Sebastian  Cabot  was  an  English  subject  by 
adoption,  but  it  was  not  so  clear  as  the  English  would  have 
wished  that  he  was  born  in  England  and  not  brought  from 
Venice  in  his  infancy.  Now,  Crowley,  with  his  free  way  of  mak- 
ing history  say  whatever  he  thought  it  ought  to  say,  when  he 
came  to  the  place  where  Cooper's  chronicle  mentioned  Sebas- 
tian Cabot,  boldly  added  that  he  was  of  Italian  descent,  but 
born  in  England:  but  in  designating  the  province  from  which 
his  fatlier  came,  as  Genoa  was  at  that  time  in  everybody's 
thoughts  in  relation  to  discoveries  on  account  of  Christopher 
Columbus,  carelessly,  like  Puebla  before  him,  wrote  Genoa  in- 
stead of  Venice  for  Italian  in  general.  The  error,  in  Biddle's 
opinion,  was  a  very  natural  mistake  of  a  contemporary  in 
view  of  the  fame  of  the  Genoese  Columbus.*  If  any  one,  reject- 
ing all  suppositions  however  reasonable,  claims  Crowley  as 
authority  in  history,  let  him  tell  me  where  Crowley  learnt  that 
Sebastian  Cabot  was  of  Genoese  descent.  Certainly  not  from 
the  Spanish  dispatches  ;  for  these  were  shut  up  in  the  ar- 
chives of  Spain  ;  nor  from  English,  Spanish,  or  Italian  writers, 
for  not  one  had  said  so  before  himself.  The  conclusion  aeems 
to  me  so  natural  that  I  shall  spend  no  more  words  on  the 
matter. 

Now  comes  Stow,  and  here  the  question  is  more  diffi- 
cult to  solve.  Richard  Hakluyt,  in  his  Divers  Voyages 
touching    the  Viscovcrie  of  America,  published   in    1582,   in- 

*  "The  very  phrase'a  Genoa's  son,'  employed  to  designate  Sebastian  Cabot, 
may  be  considered  as  the  not  nnuatural  mistake  of  a  contemporary,  referring 
as  it  does  to  the  country  of  Columbus,  vitb  whose  fame  all  Earope  was  ring- 
ing from  side  to  sHe."  Memoir,  p.  44—46. 


THE  ENGLISH  CHRONICLERS. 


19 


rtion  of 
snts,  but 
ig  it  to 
w,  what 
iingenu- 
are,  anr) 
1  person 

sertion  ? 
ibject  by 
lid  have 
rht  from 
J  of  mak- 
when  be 
cd  Sebas- 
cent,  but 
)m  which 
crybody's 
iristopher 
^Tenoa  in- 
i  Biddle's 
porary  in 
lie,  reject- 
owley  as 
arnt  that 
not  from 
the  ar- 
writers, 
on  aeems 
s  on  the 

lore  diffi- 
Voyofjrii 
1582,   in- 

tlan  Cabot, 
y,  referrint! 
pe  was  ring- 


serted  a  memoir  which  he  preceded  with  a  notice  that  it  was 
"taken  out  of  an  okl  chronicle  written  by  Robert  Fabyan, 
some  time  Alderman  of  London,  which  is  in  the  custody  of 
John  Stowe,  citizen,  a  diligent  searcher  and  preserver  of  an- 
tiquities."* 

Tlie  Memoir  begins  thus  :  This  yeare  (1498)  the  King  (by 
lueanes  of  a  Venitian  ....  caused  to  man  and  victuall  a 
shippe."t 

The  same  author  subsequently  published  his  great  col- 
lection of  all  tlie  navigations  and  voyages  of  discovery  made 
by  the  English  in  general  :  {.,nd  in  the  second  edition,  pub- 
lished from  1598  to  1600,  inserting  the  same  passage  taken 
from  Stow  where  at  first  he  simply  had  "by  meanes  of  a  Ven- 
etian," now  says,  "by  meanes  of  one  Tohu  Caboto,  Venetian  ;" 
that  is,  instead  of  the  vague  indication  of  nationality,  it  de- 
termines tlie  name  and  surname  of  tliat  Venetian.  Had  Hak- 
luyt  inadvertently  omitted  that  name  in  the  first  collection, 
or  did  lie  bodly  insert  it  of  his  own  head  in  the  second  ?  Let 
us  delay  answering  this  question  for  a  moment. 

Stow's  collection  was  also  published  after  his  death,  and 
tliere  we  find  the  same  narrative  precisely  as  it  is  given  by 
Hakluyt ;  but  in  the  single  point  where  the  two  editions  differ 
as  we  have  pointed  out,  Stow's  collection  is  at  variance  with 
both.  It  says :  "This  yeare  one  Sebastian  Gavoto  a  Genoas 
Sonne  borne  in  Bristow  .  .  caused  the  king  to  man  .  .  .";{:  It 
is  clear  that  the  original  account  of  the  old  chronicle  has  been 
falsified.  By  whom  ?  Before  answering,  let  me  briefiy  recall 
to  the  reader's  memory  who  Hakluyt  and  Stow  were,  for  a 
knowledge  of  their  persons  and  characters  may  aid  us  to  take 
a  few  steps  in  the  obscurity  of  this  question. 


*  It  is  useless  to  go  into  the  question  wliether  the  chronicle  from  wliich  Stow 
obtained  this  extract  really  belonged  to  Robert  Fubyan  or  not.  For  information 
on  that  point  the  reader  is  referred  to  the  defence  made  by  H.  Ilarrisse  (1.  c.) 
against  Biddle  (Memoir,  1.  c).  What  is  important  is  to  know  that  it  was  very 
old,  and  the  source  of  the  narrative  is  contemporary  with  the  navigation  of 
which  it  treats.     As  to  this  all  agree, 

t  See  App.  viii, 

X  See  App.  ix. 


20 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CABOT. 


'mm 


■ 


Richard  Hakluyt,  born  about  1553,  and  deceased  in  1C16, 
was  the  greatest  writer  and  collector  of  memoirs  relatinjr  to 
the  voyages  and  navigations  ot  discovery  made  by  the  Eng- 
lish in  the  northern  seas.  Learned  in  ancient  and  modern 
languages,  professor  of  naval  history,  in  active  correspond- 
ence with  Ortelius,  Mercator,  and  all  the  principal  mathema- 
ticians and  astronomers  that  could  aid  him  by  their 
learning,  he  was  the  highest  authority  in  England  on  mat- 
ters of  navigation,  and  not  only  individuals,  but  cities  and 
navigation  societies  applied  to  him  for  advice.  As  to  his 
collection,  it  is  still  amongst  the  best,  not  of  England  only, 
but  of  the  whole  world.  The  appreciation  of  the  English 
for  this  collection,  especially  of  navigators  and  discoverers, 
is  shown  by  the  facts  that  in  his  life-time  Bylot,  who  had 
Baffin  for  his  pilot,  gave  the  name  of  Hakluyt  to  an  island 
in  Baffin's  Bay;  Hudson  whose  name  is  borne  by  the  great  in- 
land sea  of  North  America,  called  a  cape  of  Spitzberg  after 
Hakluyt  whilst  he  was  still  living  ;  and  finally  during  his  life- 
time also,  a  river  discovered  by  English  navigators  in  1611 
near  Petschora  was  called  by  his  name.* 
.  John  Stow  was  born  of  poor  parents  about  1525,  and 
brought  up  to  the  tailor's  trade.  For  forty  years  his  life  was 
passed  among  needles  and  thread,  but  in  the  few  leisure  hours 
which  his  trade  allowed  him  he  had  always  been  a  fond 
reader  of  legends,  chronicles,  histories,  and  all  that  told  of 
the  times  that  were  past.  By  such  reading  he  grew  to  be  so 
attached  to  old  memoirs  that  when  about  40  years  of  age,  he 
threw  down  his  needle,  devoted  himself  to  collecting  them 
and  followed  his  new  profession  with  the  fuith  and  enthu- 
siasm of  an  apostle.  Short  of  means,  he  made  long  journeys 
afoot  to  hunt  over  and  ransack  colleges  and  monasteries,  and 
no  matter  how  worn  and  torn  might  be  the  rags  of  old  papers 
which  he  found,  he  kept  all,  reviewing,  connecting,  copying, 
comparing,  annotating  with  truly  wonderful  ability  and 
good  sense.      Arrived  at  fourscore  years,  and  no  longer  capa- 


♦  Hakluyt  Island  in  Baffin's  Bay  is  at  77"  25'  N.  and  64°  20'  W.— Cape  Hak- 
luyt lies  in  79°  47'  N.  and  60°  51'  E. 


THE  ENGLISH  CHKONICLKRS. 


21 


blo  of  earning  a  livolihood,  ho  applied  to  the  king,  and 
.James  I,  consenting  to  his  petition,  granted  to  the  man  who 
had  saved  treasures  of  memoirs  for  EngHsh  history,  the  fa- 
vor of  wearing  a  beggar's  garb  and  asking  ahns  at  church- 
doors  !  In  this  abject  state,  forgotten  and  despised,  he  died 
two  y«ars  later  in  1G()5.* 

Which  of  the  two  would  be  likely  to  lay  his  rash  hands  on 
the  old  chronicle  attributed  to  Fabyan,  the  learned  Hakluyt, 
or  the  devoted  Stow  ? — Both  ;  and  each  in  good  conscience 
according  to  the  different  point  of  view  from  which  he  re- 
garded the  matter.  Let  us  begin  with  Stow.  It  must  be  re- 
membered that  Sebastian  Cabot's  fame  always  stood  high  in 
England,  but  precisely  because  his  splendor  was  so  great,  it  al- 
most eclipsed  the  name  of  -John,  his  fatlier.  Even  now  we  see 
English  writers  remarking  the  fact,  that  many  do  not  even 
know  that  there  were  two  (-abots  and  the  glory  of  their  dis- 
coveries is  divided  between  them  and  not  given  all  to  Se- 
bastian.f  Would  it  be  a  hazardous  supposition  that  Stow,  like 
so  many  others,  confounded  the  two  persons  under  one  name  ? 
I  cannot  believe  so,  when  I  reflect  that  he  was  running  here 
and  there  in  search  of  old  papers  and  memoirs  among  moth- 
eaten  rubbish  and  on  dusty  shelves;  and  that  the  name  of  John 
Cabot,  after  all  the  search  that  can  be  made,  only  appears  in 
England  in  the  royal  patents  of  Henry  VII,  and  carefully 
preserved  and  guarded  in  the  state  records,  to  which  the 
learned  and  famous  Hakluyt  could  have  free  access,  but  the 
poor  and  despised  Stow  would  not  have  had  if  he  had  asked 
it,  which  he  certainly  did  not. 

Stow,  then,  had  before  him  an  old  account  of  a  discovery 
made  by  the  English  in  the  time  of  Henry  VII,  under  the 
lead  of  a  foreigner,  whose  name  and  surname  were  not  given. 


John  8tiype,  Life  of  John  Slow,  London,  1720. 
f  "Familiar  as  is  the  name  of  Cubot  to  ail  who  are  acquainted  with  the  his- 
tory of  maritime  discovery,  it  is  not,  perhap.s,  so  generally  known  that  there  are 
twoof  the  name,  John  and  his  more  celebnited  son  Sebastian,  between  whom  the 
credit  of  the  discovery  loosely  attributed  to  'Cabot'  must  be  divided."  Edward 
Clienev,  Notices  concerning  John  Cabot  and  his  son  Sebastian,  Preface,  London, 
1856. 


\>>m 


99 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CABOT. 


That  they  were  not  given  is  not  a  supposition,  but  an 
assertion,  and  this  is  its  basis.  In  the  British  Museum, 
among  the  manuscripts  of  the  Cotton  collection,  there  is 
an  old  anonymous  chronicle  which  relates  the  same  fact  which 
Stow  has  given  us  under  the  name  of  Robert  Fabyan.*  Now 
the  two  chronicles  are  so  completely  alike,  not  only  in  the  sub- 
stance of  the  fact,  but  in  the  language  almost  word  for  word, 
as  to  prove  without  any  restriction  that  they  are  both  from 
the  same  source.  The  reader  may  satisfy  himself  of  this  with 
his  own  eyes  by  turning  to  them  in  the  Appendix  and  com- 
paring them  one  with  theother.f  But  the  Cotton  manuscript, 
in  the  place  where  Stow  has  put  Sebastian  Cabot,  says  simply 
"a  stranger  Venetian."  As  the  account  which  Stow  gives 
us  under  the  name  of  Fabyan  agrees  with  that  in  the  Cotto- 
nian  collection  in  every  thing  else,  it  should  also  on  this  point. 
If  any  extrinsic  proof  were  needed  to  confirm  the  justness  of 
this  reasoning,  we  have  such  proof  in  Hakluyt's  account  as 
he  gives  it  in  his  first  collection  where  he  puts  simply  "a  Vene- 
tian," as  does  the  anonymous  writer  in  the  Cottonian  col- 
lection. But  Hakluyt  got  his  account  from  Stow  ;  therefore 
the  memoir  furnished  by  the  tailor  had  in  the  original  the 
words  "a  stranger  Venetian."  How  then  did  Stow,  when  in- 
serting this  memoir  in  his  collection,  come  to  make  so  ma- 
terial an  alteration?  Harrisse  has  pointed  out  how  it  must  have 
occurred.  Stow,  in  his  collection,  immediately  after  the  frag- 
ment of  which  we  are  speaking  and  which  was  taken  from 
Robert  Fabyan's  chronicle,  inserts  another  fragment  from 
Humphrey   Gilbert's   discour.se,  in    which    Sebastian    Cabot 


m.: 


i 

[i,..  ' 


*  It  hears  the  title  :  "Clironicon  reruin  A.ngliae  et  series  maiorum  et  vice- 
comitum  civitatis  London  ab  anno  primo  Henrici  tertii  ad  annum  primum  Hen- 
rici  B."  Tlie  writing  belongs  to  llie  first  years  of  Honry  VII.  See  Harrisse,  1.  c. 
p.  33. 

f  "Les  premieres  llgnes  rappellent  tropi'  extraitde  Fabyan  telquelledonne 
Ilaliluyt  dans  son  edition  de  1583  pour  ne  pas  y  voir  le  prototype  du  recit 
attribu6  au  digne  Alderman  (K.  Fabyan)  Harrisse,  p.  33—34.  And  further  on  : 
"Les  mots  .  .  .  dans  1'  extrait  du  manuscrit  cottonien  et  dans  celui  de 
Robert  Fabyan  tel  quel  le  rapportent  John  Stow  et  Richard  Hakluyt,  obligent 
!a  critique  d.  reconnaitre  que  ces  trois  extraita  se  ressemblent  trop  pour  ne  pas 
provenir  de  la  mSme  source."— See  and  compare  App.  vii— viii— ix. 


THE  ENGLISH  CHRONICLERS. 


23 


but  an 
[useum, 
there  is 
!t  which 
*    Now 
tlie  suh- 
or  word, 
ith  from 
his  with 
Lud  com- 
iiuscript, 
s  simply 
3W  gives 
he  Cotto- 
iiis  point, 
istness  of 
ceount  as 
"a  Vene- 
nian  col- 
therefore 
ginal  the 


■um  et  vice- 
rimum  Hen- 
arrisse.l.  c. 


is  spoken  of  and  mention  made  of  an  English  expedition 
led  hy  him  to  the  north-west  in  the  time  of  Henry  YII:  thiit 
is  to  say,  to  the  same  place  and  at  the  same  time  as  the  voy- 
age related  by  Fabyan.*  Stow  supposed  the  two  writers  were 
speaking  of  the  same  expedition  :  and  as  Fabyan  says  that  the 
expedition  was  led  by  a  foreigner  from  Venice,  and  Sir 
Humphrey  gave  the  command  to  Sebastian  Cabot,  he  at  once 
concluded  that  Fabyan's  "stranger  Venetian"  was  the  person 
named  by  Humphrey  Gilbert ;  and  to  make  Fabyan's  account 
clearer,  in  place  of  slramjcr  he  gave  the  name  of  Sebastian  Ca- 
bot. This  substitution  made,  it  was  a  natural  consequence 
that  the  word  Voietiau  should  give  place  to  the  expression 
"a  Genoas  sonne  borne  in  Bristow  ;"  for  Stow  treats  of  Se- 
bastian Cabot  on  another  occasion,  and  that  is  when  relating 
the  expedition  of  Sir  Hugh  Willoughby,  encouraged  and 
undertaken  at  his  instance.  In  relating  this  fact  he  follows 
the  account  of  Crowley  who,  as  we  have  seen,  says  Sebastian 
Cabot  was  "  borne  at  Bristowe,  but  a  Genoways  sonne.  "  These 
words,  by  a  natural  association  of  ideas,  would  occur  to  Stow's 
mind  when  inserting  the  name  of  Sebastian  Cabot  in  the  ex- 
pedition related  by  Fabyan,  and  as  ho  had  inserted  them  on 
Crowley's  authority  in  the  expedition  of  1553,  he  again  sub- 
stitutes them  for  the  "stranger  Venetian"  in  the  expedition 
narrated  by  Fabyan.  f  Let  us  come  now  to  Hakluyt.  The 
memoir  which  he  had  from  Stow  was  undoubtedly  as  we  find 
it  in  Stow's  collection  ;  that  is,  the  voyage  of  which  it  speaks 
is  attributed  to  Sebastian  Cabot  "  a  Genoa's  sonne."  This  is 
evident  from  the  lieading  prefixed  to  the  n^nnoir  in  every 
edition  of  Hakluyt,  which  is  :  "A  note  of  Sebastian  Cabot's  first 
discoverie  taken  out  of  a  chronicle  by  Robert  Fabyan  until 
now  unpublished,  in  the  custodie  of  John  Stow,  a  diligent 
preserver    of    antiquities.":}:     These     words     are    in    open 

•  See  App.  ix.  2nd  Part. 

t .  .  .  .  Stow  cherchant  tl  remedier  au  vague  de  1'  expression  "a  Venetian" 
et  voyant  par  Humphrey  Gilbert  (qu'il  cite  immediatment  apris, )  que  la 
decouverte  etait  attribuee  a  Sebastien  Cabot,  petit  alois  avoir  pris  snr  lui  d' 
interpoler  le  passage  de  Fabyan,  et  ajoule  les  mots  "flla  de  Genois"  empruutes 
a  Crowley.  Harrisse,  p.  33. 

t  See  App.  viii. 


24 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CABOT. 


contradiction  with  the  narrative  given  by  Hakluyt.  In  fact, 
in  his  first  collection  ho  says  the  expedition  was  led  by  "a 
stranger  Venetian";  in  the  subsequent,  he  gives  the  command 
to  "Jolni  Cabot  Venetian."  The  heading  tlien  is  not  Hakluyt's. 
but  Stow's.  If  Stow  put  Sebastian  -  Cabot's  name  in  tlie 
heading  why  would  ho  not  insert  it  in  the  body  of  th(^ 
narrative  ?  He  did  so  in  his  collection.  And  then  Ilakluyt 
must  have  again  altered  the  memoir  received  from  Stow. 
But  why  ?  and  on  what  grounds  ?  For  it  is  absurd  to  suppose 
that  a  man  like  Ilakluyt  would  make  history  follow  his  caprice. 
Hakluyt  had  gone  deeper  than  any  other  Englishman  into 
tho  history  of  those  navigations  and  he  knew  from  other 
indisputable  documents  which  ho  handled,  read,  studied, 
collated,  with  the  greatest  care  and  honesty,  that  tho  author 
of  the  voyage  related  in  that  fragment  was  not  Sebastian  Ca- 
bot, and  therefore  there  was  certainly  an  error  in  tho  name. 
What  could  he  do  ?  What  any  one  else  would  have  done  in 
tho  same  case  ;  that  is,  ask  to  see  the  original  to  be  sure 
whether  it  was  correctly  copied.  And  when  he  saw  that  the 
original  had  "a  stranger  Venetian,"  he  replaced  in  his  col- 
lection the  true  reading  of  the  text.  The  reading  he  gives 
agrees  so  well  with  the  chronicle  in  the  Cottonian  collection 
that  it  seems  to  me  certain  that  he  has  given  the  true  reading 
of  the  text  which  Stow  possessed. 

Afterwards,  when  revising  his  work  for  a  second  collection,  he 
must  have  believed  he  would  help  the  reader's  understanding 
of  the  story  by  inserting  the  name  of  the  "stranger  Venetian," 
by  which  addition,  without  violating  the  truth  of  the  text, 
ho  only  rendered  clearer  the  general  expression  of  the  chron- 
icler. And  ho  did  so.  But  why  when  he  corrected  Stow's  error  in 
the  body  of  the  narrative,  did  he  leave  it  untouched  in  the 
heading?  Because  this  was  not  of  the  slightest  importance  in 
his  collection,  and  therefore  he  paid  no  attention  to  it,  but  left 
it  as  ho  found  it.  If  others  prefer  to  suppose  that  Stow  only 
changed  tho  heading,  but  loft  the  text  unaltered,  it  turns  out 
still  better. 

The  testimony  of  Stow  thus  falls  to  the  ground,  deprived 
of  all  historical  support :  and  with  it  falls  every  argument 


VENETIAN  NATTTUALIZATION. 


25 


In  fact, 

id  hy  "a 
onnnand 
lakluyt's, 
e  in  the 
ly  of  tlio 
Ilakluyt 
)in  Stow. 
>  suppose 
is  caprice, 
man  into 
om  other 
,,  studied, 
lie  author 
astian  Ca- 
tlic  name. 
;e  done  in 
;o  be  sure 
w  that  the 
n  his  col- 
he  gives 
collection 
le  reading 

cction,  he 
standing 
'^cnetian," 
the  text, 
le  chron- 
s  error  in 
ed  in  the 
Drtance  in 
t,  but  left 
tow  only 
turns  out 


'M 


for  the  opinion  that  would  make  John  Cabot  n  Genoese.  Then 
it  only  remains  for  history  to  go  back  and  call  him  v.  Ve- 
netian, as  at  fir.st,  by  virtue  of  the  citizenship  obtained  from 
Venice.  But  does  his  obtaining  this  citizenship  prevent  us 
iVoMi  believing  that  he  may  have  been  Venetian  also  })y 
hirtii  ?  Ilarrisse  answers  that  it  is  absolutely  impossible  for 
us  to  do  so  :  and  in  sui)port  of  iiis  answer  brings  a  decree 
made  by  the  Ke[)ublic  of  Venice  in  KilS.  "This  year,"  says 
one  historian,  "extending  the  privilege!  of  the  ancient  Vene- 
tian Dogoatc,  it  was  decreed  that  whoever,  born  witliin  the 
tract  from  Grado  to  (/'avar/erc,  had  lived  with  a  fixed  resi- 
dence in  those  lands,  should  be  a  citizen  of  the  one  and  the 
other  class."*  Now,  says  Ilarrisse,  if  John  ('al)ot  had  been  born 
in  any  part  of  the  Duchy,  by  force  of  this  decree,  from  the 
fact  of  his  birth,  he  would  h.ave  been  a  Venetian  citizen.  If, 
then,  he  applied  for  naturalization,  it  means  that  ho  came 
from  outside  of  the  Duchy. f  The  reasoning  of  the  learned 
American  would  be  unanswerable  if  the  decree  he  brings 
forward  had  possessed  in  the  legislator's  mind,  and  in  fact,  the 
perpetual  force  of  law.  But  in  my  opinion  it  is  not  so. 
To  mo  that  decree  was  a  purely  transitory  arrangement  by 
which  the  right  of  Venetian  citizenship  was  offered 
to  all  who  at  the  time  of  its  publication  were  already 
born  within  the  limits  of  the  republic  and  had  a 
permanent  residence  there.  It  has  nothing  to  do  with  later 
times.  The  laws  of  Venice  on  this  subject  of  citizenship  of 
foreigners  underwent  so  many  and  such  frequent  changes  in 
the  XIV  and  XV  centuries  that  it  can  excite  no  wonder  if  we 
give  a  general  law  like  this  only  temporary  force  and  effect. 
Let  the  reader  see  a  specimen  of  this  facility  of  change,  and 
then  judge  whether  it  is  as  I  claim,  or  not. — In  1305,  it  was 
decreed  that  all  children  of  lawful  wedlock  domiciled  in 
Venice  for  25  years  should  be  counted  as  Venetian  citizens.;]: 

*  Vettor  Sandi,  Sttrria  Civile  della  Bepubblica  di  F^nezta l.iii. lib.  vi,  cap,  2, 
p.  345. 

t  Jean  et  SebaMian  Cabot.  1.  c. 

t  Vettor  SaDdi.  Prindpii  di  Storia  civile  della  Repubblica  di  Venezia.  T.  i, 
lib.  iv,  cap.  v,  p.  813.  Cristoforo  Tettori,  Saggio  della  Storia  civile  della 
Sepubblica  di  Venezia,  T.  i,  p.  102. 


'■'\n 


20 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CAnOT. 


J 


illllilji; 


mm\ 


In  1348, after  the grcnt  pln^iK'oftlmt  your,  nil  forei^iiora  wcm'c 
declared  citizens  if  tlitiy  wero  miiiricd  and  Mettled  in  the  circle 
of  the  city  with  their  family  for  two  yearH.*  In  18!»1,  llicir 
liherality  waa  unlimited.  It  wan  decreed  tiuit  any  foreigner 
coming  to  dwell  with  his  family  in  Venice  had  only  to  l)i' 
inscrihed  in  the  registers  of  the  purveyor  of  the  Ivcpuhlic  in 
order  to  acquire  at  once  all  the  rights  of  a  (citizen. f  In  1107. 
following  another  plague,  the  title  of  citizen  was  granted  to 
any  foreigner  who  would  nnirry  a  Venetian  woman  and  come 
and  settle  in  Venice. ;}; 

After  1407  there  is  no  record  of  any  change,  hut  it  is 
certain  that  there  was  a  change,  for  the  citizenship  granted 
to  John  Cahot  imposes  conditions  ditlerent  from  those  re- 
quired hy  the  laws  just  mentioned.  And  if  I  am  right,  this 
change  was  made  and  fixed  by  the  veiy  decree  of  August, 
1472,  under  which  citizenship  was  conferred  on  Lodovico 
Fontana.  Let  the  reader  judge  from  tlie  beginning  of  that 
decree. 

"Nicolo  Trono,  — By  the  grace  of  God,  Doge  of  Venice  etc. 

"To  all  and  singular  the  friends  and  lieges  etc. 

"By  the  present  writing  we  wish  to  make  known  to  you 
that  amongst  the  i hough ts  which  we  revolve  in  our  mind, 
one  of  the  principal  is  that  of  treating  with  great  care  the 
ati'airs  of  our  subjects  and  devoted  lieges,  and  securing  their 
advantage.  This  adds  to  the  splendor  of  our  authority  and  our 
lieges,  seeing  our  solicitude-  for  them,  are  strengthened 
and  increased  in  their  loyalty  and  devotion  to  us.  Therefore 
wishing  to  reward  their  merits  by  favors,  we  have  determined 
to  estfililish  as  follows  : 

*  That  any  one  who  has  resided  for  15  years  or  upwards 
uninterruptedly  in  Venice  and  during  this  period  borne  the 
burdens  and  imposts  of  our  government,  shall  be  henceforth 
our  Venetian  citizen  ;  and  for  ever  and  everywhere  enjoy  the 
privilege  of  Venetian  citizenship  and  all  other  benefits,  liber- 


*  Sandi,  ib.  T.  ii,  p.  814. 

f  Marco  Ferro,  Dizionario  del  Diritto  comune  e  Veneto,  Tomo  iii,  p.  189. 
t  Sandi,  ib.  T.  Ill,   lib.  vi,  cap.  2,  p.  345.— Tettori.  Ib.  T.  1,  p.   108,— 
Cecchetti,  II  Doge  di  Venezia,  Vcnczia,  1864,  in  8vo.  p.  246. 


f 


HIS   ATTACIIMKNT   TO    VENICE. 


27 


ties,  and  immunitios  possosaod  und  t'lijoyed  by  other  Venetlnns 
and  our  citizens.    And  us  Luij,^  Fontanu,  formerly  from   Her- 

giiuio,  is  shown  to  have  resided  15  years we  receive  him 

as  a  Venetian  and  our  citizen."* 

'llie  first  part  of  this  decree  has  nothing  to  do  with  any 
iiiirticular  person,  but  it  is  wholly  impersonal.  A  general 
1m w  is  established  applying  to  all  who  come  under  its  con- 
ditions. Wj  have  then  a  real  change  of  the  former  laws  :  the 
Venetian  method  of  conferring  citizenship  starts  here  on  a  new 
path.  In  fact,  the  naturalization  of  Fontana  is  based  on  the  fact 
(iiat  he  comes  under  the  ctmditions  established  in  the  first 
part  of  the  decree. — For  all  the  others  that  come  after  him 
the  chancellor  says  :  Simile  primkgivrn  factv,ia  fvU  in  favor  of 
such  and  such  a  one,  that  is,  it  is  shown  that  such  a  one  had 
the  requisites  set  forth  in  the  tirst  part  of  the  decree,  and  there- 
fore was  admitted  to  Venetiar.  citizenship. — It  is  consequently 
by  the  rule  of  this  decree  alone  that  the  question  of  John  Cabot 
must  bo  decided  ;  previous  laws  have  nothing  to  do  with  his 
case. 

Hut  as  regards  the  more  registering  of  this  decree  when  the 
chancellor  signed  each  case  of  naturalization,  there  is  a 
variation  in  the  registers,  which  I  do  not  think  was  accidental, 
but  if  I  am  right,  may  1  ave  an  important  bearing  on  the 
present  (luestion.  The  chancellor  of  the  Duchy  registered  the 
whole  of  the  decree  of  August  11,  1472,  in  favor  of  Lodovico 
Vontanii  from  Bergcnno,  in  the  lengthy  formula  used  in  Chan- 
cery, with  all  the  details  of  the  requisites,  burdens,  rights,  etc., 
which  had  to  precede  or  followed  naturalization.  After  Fon- 
tana, the  chancellor  gives  the  names  of  16  others  on  whom 
citizenship  was  conferred  under  the  same  conditions,  but  in 
these  cases,  instead  of  repeating  the  decree  each  time,  he  says 
simply.  "Simile  privilegium  factum  fuit  provide  viro  etc.,"such 
a  year.  Now  of  these  sixteen,  he  sometimes  mentions  the  foreign 
country  from  which  they  came,  as  was  done  in  Fontana's  case  ; 
and  sometimes  not.  Why  this  difference?  It  cannot  be  said  that 
the  chancellor  began  in  one  manner,  and  then  for  brevity's  sake 


♦See  App.  ii. 


28 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CABOT. 


i  ■  I 


followed  the  other  ;  for  the  two  manners  intersect  one  an- 
other ;  after  five  with  the  name  of  the  country  comes  onj  v.ith- 
out  it:  then  two  with,  and  then  others  again  without:  the  la.st 
is  given  again  with  the  name  of  tho  country.  I  regard  this  as 
indicating  that  those  without  any  name  of  country  were  sons 
offoreigners,  but  born  in  Venice. 

Finally  I  add — and  if  the  argument  by  itself  and  unsupported 
is  a  weak  one,  it  must,  I  think,  have  great  weight  preceded 
as  we  have  seen  by  so  many  inductive  reasons — I  a  Id  that  tlie 
little  which  we  know  of  John  Cabot  shows  him  so  bound  in 
affection  to  Venice,  that  I  cannot  imagine  him  otherwise 
than  as  born,  growing,  and  brought  up  amidst  the  memories 
of  the  glories  of  the  Queen  ofthe  Adriatic.  Forso,  even  from  liis 
earliest  years  as  a  suckling  in  his  mother's  arms  he  hears  Venice 
talked  of;  the  first  conceptions  of  power,  greatness,  glory  that 
are  presented  to  his  fancy,  are  of  Venice:  the  first  impressions 
deep  stamped  on  his  tender  heart,  come  from  Venice.  As  his  in- 
fant mind  gradually  opens  at  school  to  the  first  rays  of  reason, 
and  as  his  maturer  fancy  spreads  over  newer  and  vaster  hori- 
zons it  is  always  in  the  greatness  and  glory  of  Venice  that  his 
spirit  moves  and  is  nourished  as  he  learns  how  far  she  sends 
her  fleets,  whence  she  draws  her  wealth,  and  how  great  is 
the  number  of  her  ships,  her  forts,  and  her  soldiers.  And 
the  stories  that  could  not  fail  to  be  told  of  so  many 
Venetian  travellers,  continually  passing  over  unknown 
lands  and  seas,  opening  new  regions  to  men's  knowledge, 
must  have  kindled  his  fancy,  not  with  the  delight  of 
mere  curiosity  and  wonder,  but  with  the  enthusiasm  of 
patriotic  sentiment.  In  Venice  he  passes  these  happy 
years  when  life  seems  all  to  smile  ;  at  Venice  the  seal 
of  love  is  stamped  on  his  heart,  and  he  forms  a  family,  and 
feels  for  the  first  time  the  rapture  of  being  called  father.  His 
firct  labors  are  for  Venice  and  with  Venetians,  the  ships  ho 
goes  aboard  of,  the  wares  he  buys  and  sells,  the  ports  he  sails  to, 
the  merchants  he  talks  with,  everything  speaks  to  him  of 
Venice.  So  I  can  conceive  how  such  a  man  led  by  the  circum- 
stances of  life  to  betake  himself  elsewhere,  carries  ever  witli 
him  the  image  of  his  dear  cit3%  always  present  in  his  thought, 


THE  COMMERCE  OF  VENICE. 


29 


always  fixed  in  his  heart  :  and  on  the  day  when  he  too 
shall  place  liis  signature  on  the  great  hook  of  fame,  he  will 
wish  with  the  sweet  tenderness  of  a  son  that  by  the  side  of  his 
name  shnll  also  he  written  that  of  his  native  land.  Such  was, 
so  acted  John  Cabot.  When  in  1497  he  took  possession  of  the 
new  land  he  had  discovered,  he  raised  there  the  banner  of 
En^dand  in  whose  name  he  took  possession,  but  together  with 
that  ho  would  have  the  flag  of  Venice  also  raised  in  triumph. 
Why  so  ?  Venice  had  taken  no  part  whatever  in  fitting  out 
thatcxpedition,  it  could  make  not  the  least  claim  to  the  rights 
or  profits  of  that  land,  for  ho  sailed  in  tlie  name  of  England, 
for  the  sole  profit  and  advantage  of  England.  Why  then  join 
to  the  banner  of  St.  George  that  of  St.  Mark  ?  There  could  be 
only  one  reason,  to  birid  the  name  of  his  native  land  to  the 
glory  of  that  discovery.  And  who  else  could  feel  in  his  heart 
this  need — I  say  delil)erately  need,  for  there  are  moments  when 
attachment  to  one's  ])irth-place  so  fills  the  heart  with  emotion 
that  it  must  have  vent  in  a  record,  a  word,  or  a  sigh — who 
else  but  one  who  was  Venetian  in  mcdiMis  et  visceribus  f 


vm 


CHAPTER  IT. 


i 


Venice — ftn  relations  witli  FjiKjlaiid — Voijni/CH  of  the  iieople  of 
the  north  in  the  No>iJi.ScaH — Yoidh  of  John  Cabot — Ilia  Endow- 
mcnts  of  vhind  and  heart. 

Proceeding  in  our  narrative,  we  continue  in  the  dark  : 
and  having  no  direct  hght,  it  will  be  well  to  make  our  way  a 
little  clearer  by  what  we  can  gain  from  a  knowledge  of 
Venice  and  its  condition  at  the  time  of  which  we  are  treating. 

The  fall  of  Constantinople  into  the  hands  of  the  Turks  had 
been  a  fearful  blow  to  the  power  and  greatness  of  Venice  ; 
l)Ut  the  blow  was  still  too  recent  for  its  effects  to  be  fully  seen 
and  felt :  so  that  she  still  went  on  glorious  and  powerful  in 


30 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CABOT. 


u 
'I 


the  richness  of  her  commerce.  Alone  of  all  states  she  had  re- 
lations and  treaties  with  every  part  of  the  known  world;  there 
was  no  sea  unknown  to  her  vessels,  no  region  not  reached  l»y 
her  wares.  From  the  English  and  Russians  in  the  extreme 
north  to  the  Moors,  Hindoos,  Tartars,  and  Mongols  in  the 
furthest  lands  of  the  east  and  south,  the  earth  was  all  overrun 
as  with  a  net  of  roadways  over  which  Venice  sent  and  le- 
ceived  her  merchandise  and  merchants. 

Every  year,  as  soon  as  spring  brought  back  the  favorable 
season,  an  immense  caravan  of  ships  and  merchants,  partly 
on  state,  and  partly  on  private  account,  sailed  from  Venice  to 
spread  over  the  east  and  the  west,  and  everywhere  they 
found  their  own  consuls,  privileges,  warehouses,  even  in  Siain 
and  Cambodia.  On  their  arrival  they  found  the  wares  and 
products  of  other  peoples  and  other  lands  ready  and  waiting  to 
be  embarked  on  the  ships  of  the  Venetians,  rnd  'th  and  l)y 
them  to  be  distributed  amongst  the  nations  '1 ,  ^.-s  the  com- 
merce of  every  people  jjassed  through  the  hands  of  Venice,  she 
furnished  all  the  markets,  to  her  flowed  in  the  wealth  of  all  na- 
tions.*    '  ■       '  '      "  -■•  . -^.       ^>■v>"  ■         >.:-"■■■,/     -.^     v.,,^ 

In  a  city  where  public  and  private  life  found  the  greatest 
opening  for  their  activity  and  energy  in  commerce  and  navi- 
gation, it  is  natural  that  we  should  find  the  most  diligent  ami 
devoted  cultivators  of  geography.       After  Marco  Polo,  justly 
named  the  Christopher  Columbus  of  the  eastern  regions  of  Asi.i. 
Venice  presents  us  a  series  of  voyagers  and  geographers,  not 
less  wonderful  for  their  number,  considering  the  times,  tln.n 
for  the  intrinsic  value  of  their  voyages  and  labors.  In  the 
half  of  the  XIV  century,  Marin  Sanudo,  the  elder,  made    • 
voyages  to  Cyprus,  Armenia,  Alexandria,  Rhodes,  Ptoun, 
he  visited  Slavonia,  Germany,  Flanders,  Alsace,  Franco  ;  . 
wonderful  extent  of  country  and  peoples  to  one  who  thinks  of 
the  condition  of  the  roads  in  those  days,  and  the  difficulty  and 
danger  of  communication  between  different  countries.   He  has 
left  us  a  valuable  book  of  his  travels,  rich  in  notes  and  obser- 
vations, on  the  customs,  laws,  and  condition  of  the  different  na- 


*  Romauin./S^ona  IJocum.  iii.  7. 


VENICE  IN  THE  XIV.  AND  XV.  CENTURIES. 


31 


le  had  re- 
)rld ;  there 
3ached  l)y 
e  extreme 
ols  in  the 
11  overrun 
nt  and  le- 

favorable 
its,  partly 

Venice  to 
hero  they 
ni  in  Si  a  in 
wares  and 
waiting  to 
th  and  by 
,-s  the  coiu- 
k'^'enice,  she 
h  of  all  na- 

le  greatest 
and  navi- 
ligent  aiul 
'olo,  justly 
nisof  Asia, 
pliers,  not 
nies,  tlu.n 
n  the 
aad«_ 
toi.^-i 
ranee  ;  < 
thinks  of 
culty  and 
s.  Hohns 
nd  obsei- 
erent  na- 


tions he  visited,  and  he  added  maps  representing  the  Medi- 
terranean, the  sea  with  the  continent,  the  Holy  Land,  Egypt, 

etc.* 
The  following  century  saw  first  the  two  brothers  Nicolas  and 

Antony  Zeno  coursing,  bold  navigators  and  explorers,  over 
the  unknown  seas  of  the  north-we.st  of  Europe;  and  next  Luigi 
dii  Mosto  opening  new  paths  to  navigation  in  the  dreaded  seas 
of  the  African  coast ;  while  Nicholas  de'  Conti  labored  for  more 
than  20  years  to  penetrate  and  explore  regions  of  Asia,  either 
wliolly  unknown,  or  known  only  by  name.  And  whilst  these 
and  many  others — whom  it  would  take  too  long  to  mention 
•ill — were  furnishing  by  their  reports  a  precious  treasure  of 
jiew  information  about  peoples,  places,  products,  other  Vene- 
tians, at  home,  in  the  silence  of  their  libraries,  were  studying 
to  improve  and  multiply  maps  and  geographical  charts, 
from  the  Portolan  of  the  Genoese  Visconti,  executed  at  Venice 
in  1318  to  the  marvellous  planisphere  of  Fra  Mauro  completed 
about  1470. 

The  brothers  Pizzagano  published  in  1357  a  Map  of  the 
world  as  then  known  ;  Marco  Trevisani  in  1378  gave  a  sort  ot 
('osmography  in  six  books;  1426  beheld  the  hydro-geograph- 
ieal  charts  of  Giacomo  dei  Giraldi;  1430  those  so  celebrated  of 
Andrea  Bianco  :  and  eight  years  later,  in  1444  Pietro  Versi 
pul)li^^hed  his  Raxoti.de'  Afarinicri,  followed  by  his  Ilaxon  de 
Martuloio  per  namgnre  a  mcnte.f 

Thus  the  name  of  Venice  was  sounded  throughout  Europe, 
not  only  as  the  greatest  emporium  of  commerce,  but  also  as  the 
iir.st  school  of  geographical  knowledge.  Thither  flocikcd  Flem- 
ings, Portuguese,  Germans,  foreigners  of  every  nation,  to  learn 
of  Venetian  masters  mathematics  and  navigation,  the  arts  of 
cartography  and  map-coloring.  In  the  judgment  of  Karl 
Hitter,  Albert  Durer  owes  mainly  to  his  studies  in  Venice  the 

•Ai^ostiiii  Scrittori  Venezinni.  1 ,  440.  Tlie  title  of  the  book  is  "Liber  Secretorum 
Fiik'liuin  Cnicis  super  terrae  siinoltie  rcenperfitione."  It-s  aim  was,  as  the 
title  indicates,  to  arouse  Cbristemloin  to  an  energetic  crusade, sliowing  how  to 
conduct  it,  the  roads  to  follow,  the  places  to  attack,  products,  populations, 
etc. 

IRomauin,  St.  Locum,  ill.  7.— iv.  450 


1^ 


32 


THE  LIFE  OP  JOHN  CAROT. 


wonderful  ability  shown  in  his  geographical  drawings.* 
It  is  my  conviction,  as  I  have  already  said,  that  it  was  in 
these  schools  tliat  the  young  John  Cabot  was  brought  up  to 
know  and  love  the  sea,  and  that  the  education  there  received 
found  its  necessary  coniplenient  in  practical  life  amongst  tlic 
bold  youths  who  made  the  name  of  Venice  feared  and  re- 
spected in  ever}'-  land  and  on  every  sea.  But  too  great  ob- 
scurity shrouds  the  view,  and  we  can  only  follow  him  in  im- 
agination in  the  dauntless  activity  of  big  youth  in  which  he 
was  training  for  the  great  enterprises  he  carried  out  in  his  man- 
hood. The  only  mention  of  him  that  we  find  in  this  first 
period  of  his  life,  is  made  by  Don  Raimondo  da  Soncino  in 
his  letter  to  the  Duke  of  Milan,  in  which  he  relates  that  John 
"^abot  Lold  him  "that  he  had  formerly  been  in  Mecca  where 
:,nces  are  brought  by  caravans  from  distant  countries,  and 
when  those  that  brought  them  were  asked  where  tlie  spices 
grew,  they  replied  that  they  did  not  know,  but  these  goods  were 
brought  to  their  country  from  far-off  lands  by  other  caravans 
who  said  they  had  been  brought  to  them  from  regions  still 
more  reniote."f  These  words,  few  as  they  are,  give  us  an  indi- 
cation of  the  extent  of  his  commercial  navigations,  and  a  sure 
proof  of  his  desire  to  look  l)cyond  the  horizon  which  bounded 
the  navigation  and  commerce  of  that  time. 

From  this  extreme  limit  of  the  Venetian  commercial  world 
at  the  end  of  the  Red  Sea,  history  to  find  John  Cabot  again  takes 
us  Avith  a  rebound  to  the  opj^osite  extremity  in  the  seas  of  the 
North  to  the  ports  of  England.  There  were  very  extensive  com- 
mercial relations  between  Groat  Britain  and  Venice,  and  even 
in  tlie  first  half  of  the  XIV  century  wo  find  mention  of  Vene- 
tian embassies  to  the  rulers  of  those  islands  for  extending  and 
securing  that  trade. ;{:  There  was  in  England  a  flourishing  col- 
ony governed  in  a  rcpul)lican  form  by  its  own  consuls  and  a 
council  of  merchants,  among  whom  were  many  patricians  of 

*  Die  Enlkunde  iin  Verliillmisse  zur  Natiir  timl  Goscliicbtc  des  Mcnscliens, 
Berlin,  1832-54. 

t  See  App.  xiii.  By  Mecca  w<!  nre  not  to  undenstaiid  tlie  city  proper,  but  tLe 
neighboring  shores  of  the  Red  Sea. 

X  Romunin,  Storia  Documentata  di  Venezia  iii  7. 


VOYAGES  OF  THE  NORSEMEN. 


33 


great  houses  ;  whence  it  often  happens  that  in  reading  Vene- 
tian documents  we  find  patricians  designated  as  of  London.* 
The  loading  was  done  at  the  city  of  Bristt  1,  then  the  first  port 
of  the  island.  In  this  city  we  again  find  John  Cahot  from  a 
merccoinmercial  navigator  presented  to  history  as  the  discov- 
t'ler  of  now  islands  and  lands.  He  had  settled  in  England, 
as  his  son  relates,  bringing  all  his  family  with  him  from 
Venice,  t  In  what  year  this  was  is  unknown,  but  from  some 
dates  in  the  life  of  his  son  Sebastian,  of  which  we  shall  speak 
further  on,  it  may  be  settled  that  it  was  about  1477. 

Ikit  here  before  proceeding  to  discourse  of  his  work,  it  will 
not  bo  amiss  to  recall  briefly  the  excitement  for  navigating 
unkuown  seas  and  discovering  new  regions,  which  at  that 
time  prevailed  among  men  of  the  sea. 

For  more  than  half  a  century  the  Portuguese  had  pressed 
forward  along  the  teriipestuous  coasts  of  the  Atlantic  and, 
though  the  results  w^erenot  very  showy,  there  was  yet  enough  to 
magnify  the  fruit  gathered  and  to  strengthen  hope  for  greater 
in  the  future.  That  there  was  much  discussion  of  those  voy- 
ages amongst  men  of  the  sea,  and  their  imagination  and 
heart  excited  thereby,  is  proved  by  the  fact  of  foreigners  hast- 
(Miing  to  those  adventures  and  ac(iuiring  in  them  a  fame 
that  will  never  perish  in  the  memory  of  posterity.;}:  ■,;.>; 

England  then  came  last  of  maritime  nations,  and  was  wlmlly 
without  the  circle  of  the  enterprises  in  which  the  activity  of  the 
Fortunuese  was  exercised.  But  the  report  of  what  was  doing 
in  the  southern  seas  had  a  s[)ecial  effect  on  the  fancy  of  the  few 
seamen  who  wandered  about  the  j)orts  of  England,  owing  to 
the  memory  preserved  in  their  traditions  of  similar  attempts 


♦Agoslino  Siii,nedo,  in  Ravvdoii  Brown's    "  Pielimiiiury  note  to  the  records 

[of  Venice,"  ISC'!. 

f"Set)astiano  Oiiboto  mi  ilissi!  clii;  scndosi  partito  suo  padre  da  Vcnc-zia  giil 
Imnlti  anni  et  nndato  a  stare-  in  Ii)uiiilltrr;i  a  far  iiU'rcaiitiL'."  Uanuiiiio.  See 
rAiip,  xix.— And  Lorenzo  I'asqnaligo,  "e  con  so  nio!:('r  venitiana,  u  co  so  floli 
[a  liiisio."  See  App  xi. 

t  The  reader  will  perceive  that  T  allude  to  the  Genoese  Antonio  Usodimnre  and 
|lie  Vi'netiaii  Lidsti   Cadamosio.  lo  whom  is  due  the  discovery  of  the  Cnpe 
^cnli!  Ul mds,  wliioh  at,  this  time  wa**  thi  most  important  result  that  had  heen 
cUievud  hy  the  expeditions  promoted  '"V  I'riiic  Henry. 


.-is 


S4 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CABOT. 


by  their  fathers  long  before  in  the  seas  of  the  North.  The  fame  of 
the  achievements  in  the  southern  seas  must  more  than  ever  re- 
new this  recollection  and  stimulate  by  example  to  beginning 
again  the  interrupted  work  with  greater  vigor.  For  us  the 
memory  of  those  traditions  starts  some  years  later,  but  there 
can  be  no  doubt  that  the  English  mariners  had  always  a  more 
or  less  lively  remembrance  of  them  as  a  matter  closely  in- 
teresting their  imagination  and  pride,  for  the  more  backward  a 
people  is  in  civilization  the  more  tenacious  it  is  of  its  oral 
traditions,  and  because  in  the  poverty  of  relations  with  other 
countries  in  which  England  then  was  there  could  be  no  more 
acceptable  subject  of  conversation  to  seamen.  If  in  the  course 
of  time  this  remembrance  faded  and  was  even  lost,  it  was  pre- 
cisely because  more  recent  voyages  and  discoveries  furnished 
vaster  and  pleasanter  themes  for  their  discourse,  and  the  faint 
remembrance  of  ancient  deeds  is  obscured  by  the  splendor  of 
fresher  achievements  until  by  historical  research  or  chance  is 
restored  to  the  light  of  day  what  had  long  lain  buried  in 
profound  obscurity. 

Let  the  reader  recall  to  his  memory  the  adven+"TT.iia  life  of 
the  Normans,  or  Northmen,  who,  sustained  by  the  doctrine  of 
Woden  promising  Paradise  to  those  slain  by  hostile  steel,  issu- 
ing with  savage  boldness  from  their  native  shores  of  Jutland  or 
Scandinavia,  plouglicd  the  seas  of  the  north  with  their  little 
fleets,  and  threw  themselves  now  on  this  land  now  on  that,  rob- 
bing and  devastating  everywhere.  On  one  of  these  excursions 
in  861,  Nadod,  one  of  their  pirates,  driven  by  the  fury  of  the 
winds  and  tempests  to  a  frightful  distance  northwards,  dis- 
covered Iceland.*  A  colony  was  at  once  settled  in  the  new 
land  and  continued  in  these  new  seas  the  same  bold  course  as 
they  had  followed  in  those  of  their  mother  country.  The 
same  chance  which  occurred  to  Nadod  in  861,  was  often 
repeated  in  coimection  with  other  lands.    In  this  manner  one 


*  Some  indentify  Iceland  with  the  Thiile  of  the  ancients  ;  others  regard 
Tlnile  as  Mainland,  tlie  central  island  of  the  Orcades,  unwilling  to  believe  lliat 
the  ancipnts  ventured  so  far  north  in  their  voyages.  But  even  admitting  tlmt 
the  ancients  knew  of  Iceland,  that  covdd  have  had  no  material  influence  on 
Nadod's  discovery,  all  trace  of  it  having  been  lost. 


THE    DISCOVERY   OF   GREENLAND. 


35 


Erik  Raude  (Erik  the  Red)  in  983  touched  the  eastern  shore 
of  Greenland  at  <^bout  64°  of  Latitude,  and  coasting  around 
its  southern  extremity  (Cape  Farewell)  he  went  on  to  establish 
himself  in  the  gulf  and  i^ord  of  Igaliko  on  the  western  coast.* 
A  colony  started  here  in  985.  Sailing  thither  in  the  next  year 
young  Bjarn,  son  of  Herjulf  one  of  the  founders  of  the  colony, 
was  driven  from  his  course  by  a  furious  storm  accompanied 
with  cloudy  darkness.  When  after  a  few  days  the  sea  was 
again  calm  and  the  sky  clear  he  found  himself  in  front 
of  a  different  land  from  the  one  he  was  seeking.  There  are 
various  opinions  as  to  what  precise  land  it  was,  but  it  was  cer- 
tainly a  part  of  North  America.  Numerous  colonists  flocked 
thither  from  Greenland,  and  seem  to  have  increased  in  popula- 
tion and  prosperity.!  But  Greenlaiil,  which  is  represented 
as  then  blessed  with  a  habitable  climate,  afterwards,  from 
causes  not  yet  well  explained,  became  unhabitable  for 
its  severe  cold  and  eternal  frost.  :j:  From  this  cause,  and 
from  the  loss  of  the  fierce  energy  of  the  old  Normans,  every 
bond  with  the  old  world  was  broken,  and  even  the  memory 
of  it  vvas  lost,  so  much  so  that  when,  at  the  end  of  the 
XV  and  in  the  XVI  century,  new  expeditions  from  Europe 
reached  its  shores,  every  one  believed  that  they  were  then  first 
brought  to  the  sight  of  white  men.  And  but  for  the  minute 
scrutiny  of  recent  historical  criticism,  which  from  the  slight- 
est indication,  can  extract  materials  for  rebuilding  the  past, 
nothing  would  be  known  of  those  old  adventures.  But  if  all 
memory  of  them  was  lost  to  history,  it  is  certain  that  in  the 
tales  and  fancy  of  the  mariners  descended  from  those  old 
Normans,  there  must  have  remained  some  recollection,  even 
though  wrapped  up  in  legends.  And  the  seamen  of  Eng- 
land were  the  descendants  of  the  Normans.  This  is  all  the 
more  likely  if  we  consider  that  from  time  to  time  similar  cases 
to  that  of  the  Normans  were  happening,  of  ships  driven  from 
their  course  by  the  wind  and  cast  on  distant  shores  lost  in  the 
Ocean's  immensity.  It  will  suffice  to  mention  the  case  of  An- 
tonio Zeno,  whose  being  driven  by  storm  on  a  little  island  lost 


^1 


•G.  Gravier,  ib.  c.  iv 


\'Id.  ib.  c.  V. 


t  Id.  P.  iii.  Ch.  i 


36 


THE  LIFE  OP  JOHN  CABOT. 


:!.:^ 


lp!l:jfl 


in  the  middle  of  the  ocean,  became  the  occasion  of  the  fa- 
mous voyages  of  himself  and  liis  l)rother  in  the  northern  seas. 
He  went  again  to  where  the  tempest  had  driven  him,  and  re- 
lated his  adventures,  and  voyages,  and  his  and  his  brother's 
deeds  and  bravery  are  known  to  the  whole  civilized  world. 
But  who  shall  say  how  many  other  mariners  that  are  un- 
known may  have  been  in  the  same  case  and  were  afterwards 
unable  to  regain  their  accustomed  harbors  and  describe  to  their 
comrades  the  fearful  sliores  they  had  seen  ?  Moreover  Iceland 
certainly  retained  the  memory  of  the  old  Norman  voyages 
and  discoveries  in  the  Eddaa,  religious  songs  of  its  bards,  and 
the  Sogas,  the  traditional  legends  of  its  people.  Some  like 
memory  of  them  must  have  been  preserved  in  England.  At  the 
tale  of  the  Portuguese  voyages  and  discoveries  in  the  southern 
seas  these  traditions  would  naturally  bo  illuminated  with  un- 
usual splendor  to  the  mind  of  the  English  mariners,  and 
strongly  attract  them  to  tempt  again  the  unknown  regions  of 
the  northern  seas  so  bravely  and  fortunately  sailed  over 
by  their  ancestors. 

It  v/Rs  under  the  impulse  of  these  examples  and  appeals, 
that  in  H80  the  citizens  of  Bristol  launched  a  small  ship,  and 
giving  the  command  to  the  ablest  seaman  they  had,  sent  it 
west  of  Iceland  in  search  of  the  island  of  Brazil.* 

The  expedition  lasted  two  months,  from  July  15  to  Sep- 
tember 18,  and  returned  without  any  result.  The  failure  of 
this  expedition  seems  to  have  destroyed  all  their  courage  for 
a  new  attempt ;  for  the  Spanish  ambassador,  writing  to  his 
king  of  the  discovery  by  ('abot,  and  mentioning  the  other 
attempts  made  some  years  before  by  the  men  of  Bristol  begin- 


*"I480diejullijnavis  .  .  .et.  .  .  J()h(ann)is.Tay  iunioiisponderis  SOdoliorum 
inceperunt  viagiutn  apud  portnm  Bristolliic  de  Kyngrode  usque  ad  iusulam  (iu 

Brasylle  iu  occidentali  parte  Hibernice,  sulcando  maria  per et   .... 

Tblyde  est  magister  scientiflcus  mariuarius  tocius  AngliiE,  et  nova  veneruiit 
Bristollise  die  luna;  18  die  septembris,  quod  dicta  navis  velaverunt  maria  per 
circa  9  (sic)  menses  nee  invenerunt  insulam  sed  per  tempcstiis  maria  revcisi 
sunt  usque  portnm.  ...  in  Hibernia  pro  reposicione  navis  et  mariniorum." 

Itinerarium  Willelmi  Botoner,  diet  de  Worcestre,  ms.  in  the  Library  of  Hie 
College  of  Corous  Ciirisli  at  Cambridge. 

From  Harrisse,  Jean  et  Sebastien  Cabot,  p.  44. 


HIS  EARLY  LIFE. 


37 


the  fa- 
ll seas, 
iiul  re- 
:otlier's 

world, 
are  un- 
arwards 

to  their 
Icelaiul 
voyaj^es 
,rds,  and 
line  hkc 
i.  At  the 
southern 
with  un- 
Liers,  and 
'Cgions  of 
Lied   over 

appeals, 
ship,  and 
1(1,  sent  it 


nin^in  1491,  gives  all  the  merit  of  them,  or  rather  throws  all 
the  l)lame  of  them  according  to  his  view,  on  John  Cahot.* 

At  tliis  point  we  feel  more  strongly  the  importance  of 
knowing  what  man  Cabot  was,  and  how  prepared  for  the 
dirticultics  and  dangers  of  tlie  new  path  :  but  he  is  still  sur- 
rounded by  the  obscurity  of  night.  Wo  must  be  content 
with  the  few  marks  saved  from  time's  destroying  work,  and  by 
their  aid  represent  to  our  mind  approximately  whflt  he  must 
have  ])eeii.  Wo  have  seen  at  Mecca  he  first  showed  his  in- 
terest in  voyages  and  discoveries  by  his  inquiries  from  the 
merchants  of  the  east.  The  information  then  gathered  we  shall 
find  him  putting  to  use  after  many  years,  and  drawing  from 
it  arguments  lO  support  his  calculations  and  determine  the 
cour.so  he  should  pursue  to  su(!ceed  in  his  discoveries.  This 
activity  of  his  mind  in  collecting  on  all  sides  proofs  and  prob- 
ahih'ties  for  the  plans  he  was  meditating,  is  evidence  that  he 
was  not  an  adventurer  driven  by  accident  to  the  career  of 
discovery  :  but  an  acute  and  calculating  mind  ever  intent  on 
seeing  and  providing  for  his  needs.  Soncino  calls  him  "a  dis- 
tinguished mariner  v/ith  gtcai  ability  in  discovering  new  isl- 
ands;! of?  fine  genius  well  skilled  in  navigation. ;{:"  The  charts 
and  spheres  composed  by  him  are  also  mentioned  by  Soncino,§ 
and  by  the  Spanish  ambassador  Pedro  de  Ayala  ;||  the  Cot- 
tonian  Manuscript  in  the  British  Museum  ;!"  and  the  contem- 
porary chronicler  Robert  Fabyan,  or  whoever  may  have 
been  the  author  of  that  chronicle."** 

Few  as  these  data  are,  they  show  that  when  John  Cabot 
started  on  his  voyages  of  discovery,  he  had  acquired  not  only 
a  long  experience  of  sea  life,  but  also  a  broad  and  deep  prep- 


Ms 


^■. 


K        1 


-1- , 


r 


*  We  shall  speak  of  them  presently.        +  See  App.  xii.        X  See  App.  xiii. 

j^  "  Messer  Zoanne  ha  la  descriptlone  del  moudo  in  una  carta  e  anchc  In  una 
sphera  solida  che  lui  a  fatto."  lb.  xiii. 

II  Ayala,  App.  xiii.   "  lo  he  visto  la  carta  que  ha  fecho  el  inventador la 

carta  o  mupa  mundi  que  este  ha  fecho." 

f  "A  stranger  Venetian,  which  by  a  cart  made  himself  expert  In  Knowing 
of  the  world."   App.  vii. 

**  "A  Venetian,  which  made  himself  very  expert  and  cunning  in  Knowledge 
of  the  circuit  of  the  worlde  and  ilandes  of  the  same  as  by  a  carde ....  he 
shewed."  App.  viii. 


38 


THE  LIFE  OP  JOHN  CABOT. 


tl 


m 


aration  of  mind  for  the  wants  and  requirements  of  his  new 
career. 

He  was  poor  :  Raimondo  da  Soncino  tells  us  so  expressly  ;* 
and  even  without  his  testimony,  we  should  have  inferred  it 
with  certainty  from  the  gift  of  £  10  which  the  King  of  Eng- 
land made  him  after  his  discovery  :  for  although  Henry  VII 
was  miserly  beyond  all  belief,  such  a  present  would  not  bo 
made  to  one  who  was  not  obliged  to  count  his  pennies  in 
order  to  live.f  In  this  condition,  "  a  stranger  and  poor," 
as  Soncino  calls  him,  what  hardships  of  toil,  journeys,  and 
repulses,  must  he  have  endured  before  he  found  any  one 
to  listen  to  him  and  advance  the  means  and  necessary  aid  to 
carry  out  his  idea  of  sailing  for  new  discoveries  !  The  dispatch 
of  Ayala  gives  us  a  slight  opening  through  which  we  catch 
a  glimpse  of  the  long  and  thorny  road  he  must  have  travelled 
before  he  reached  the  goal.  "He  has  been,"  says  the  dispatch, 
"in  Seville  and  Lisbon  trying  to  get  some  one  to  help  him  in 
this  discovery.  " ;{:  The  words  are  few,  but  indicate  a  great 
deal.  Let  us  recall  the  life  that  Christopher  Columbus  had 
to  lead  before  he  found  any  one  to  listen  to  him ;  and  our 
imagination  will  be  able  to  depict  the  vast  and  sad  field  of  the 
toils  and  disappointments  of  John  Cabot. 

It  nowhere  appears  whether  his  journeys  to  Spain  and 
Portugal  were  before  or  during  his  attempts  with  the  citi- 
zens of  Bristol,  and,  all  data  wanting,  it  is  useless  to  put  for- 
ward suppositions. 

Of  his  moral  qualities,  we  can  only  speak  of  his  great 
generosity  of  heart,  shown  by  freely  bestowing  on  his  friends 
and  those  who  had  aided  him  the  benefits  which  in  his 
enthusiasm  he  hoped  to  gain  by  his  discovery.§  If  in  this 
distribution  vanity  at  finding  himself  elevated  by  his  dis- 
covery to  so  great  importance  in  the  eyes  of  all  had  some  little 
part,  there  still  is  shown  a  great  depth  of  kindness  which 
prevents  his  shutting  himself  up  in  the  haughty  pride  of  his 
greatness,  but  makes  him  invite  his  friends  and  companions 
to  share  his  triumph. 

*  See  App.  ziii.       f  See  ch.  v.  uear  the  end.       X  -^PP-  x^i.       §  App.  xiii. 


f 


mSCOVEHY  OP  NKWFOI'NDLAND. 


m 


In  the  extreme  dearth  of  inl'ornuition  concerning  the  moral 
and  intellectual  endowments  of  John  Oabot,  and  his  whole  life 
in  general,  it  is  a  comfort  to  see  that  all  speak  of  him  favor- 
ably, and  every  break  in  the  thick  darkness  enveloping  him 
either  shows  us  a  trait  of  his  genius  and  energy,  or  some  proof 
of  his  goodness  of  lieart. 


CHAPTER  III 


The  first  J HKcovenf  of  1494. 

The  Spanish  Ambassador,  Ayala,  wrote  to  his  government 
in  July  1498:  "for  seven  years  past,  the  people  of  Bristol,  in- 
cited by  the  fancies  of  this  Genoese,  have  furnished  two,  three, 
or  four  caravels  each  year  to  go  in  search  of  the  islands  of 
Brazil  and  the  Seven  Cities."*  We  have  seen  that  the  per- 
son indicated  by  Ayala  under  the  name  of  Genoese  was  John 
Cabot.  These  few  words  are  all  the  mention  that  has  reached 
us  ot  the  first  steps  of  our  navigator  in  his  career  of  discovery. 
It  only  remains  then  for  us  to  consider  what  efforts  he  must 
have  made  to  induce  the  people  of  Bristol  to  follow  him  again 
ni  his  attempts  at  discovery  and  his  energy  in  keeping  them 
firm  to  the  trial  after  repeated  failures, 

Ayala's  words  tell  us  clearly  that  the  sole  object  of  his  voy- 
age from  the  first  was  to  find  one  of  the  islands  said  to  be  scat- 
tered in  the  Ocean,  and  which  for  so  many  years  had  excited 
the  fancy  ot  the  men  of  the  sea.  It  would,  therefore,  be  a 
mistake  to  suppose  he  aimed  at  reaching  the  coast  of  Asia  by 
the  weet  ;  this  greater  undertaking  was  resolved  on  when  the 
news  reached  London  of  the  first  voyage  of  Christopher  Colum- 
bus, t     This  follows  clearly  from  the  words  of  his  son  Sebas- 

•"Los  de  Bristol,  ha  siete  ano  que  cada  anos  an  artnado  dos,  tres,  cuatro  cara- 
Telas  para  ir  a  buscar  la  isla  del  Brasil  y  las  siete  cludades  con  la  fantasia 
deste  Genoves."  App.  xvi. 

t  Into  this  mistake  L.  Hugues  among  others,  has  fallen.  He  says  ;"Diirii)g  the 


M 


I-1I' 


40 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CABOT. 


I 


tiiin,  us  wo  slinll  hw  (urtlicr  on,  wlicn  our  story  slmll  liriii<; 
us  to  speak  of  him.*  After  tlie  diseovery  by  Cliristoitlici 
(/'olunihus.  John  Cabot,  returning  to  his  aeeustonied  ntteni|tl. 
instead  of  .snilin^r  at  runchtni  on  the  lioundless  waters  <»f  tlic 
Ocean,  steered  ri^lit  to  tlie  west  in  the  certainty  of  findiii<:, 
after  tlio  exaniph;  of  tlii;  jj^rcat  (Jenoese,  the  eastern  sliorcs 
of  Asia.  Tlie  hil>orsthat  had  been  in  vain  on  fornior  searches, 
now  that  lie  had  a  lixed  term  in  view,  were  crowned  with 
success.  lie  found  land,  and  he  believed  and  jud<,a'd  it  to  be- 
long to  the  empire  of  the  Grand  Khan,  f  This  was  on  June 
24,  1494. 

His  son  Sebastian  has  loft  us  a  record  of  the  fact  in  the 
Planisphere  he  compo.sed  in  the  year  1544.  To  the  rij^ht  and 
left  he  places  various  legends  and  inscriptions  in  explanation 
of  various  points  of  the  Planisphere  ;  and  one  of  these  in  the 
original  Spanish  reads  thus  :  "  This  land  was  discovered  by 
John  Cabot,  Venetian,  and  Sebastian  (Jabot,  his  son,  the  year 
of  the  birth  of  Our  Saviour  Jesus  Chri.st  1404,  on  the  24th  of 
June,  in  the  morninfj^,  to  which  they  jtj^a-  he  name  First  Land 
Seen,  and  to  a  great  island  which  is  op}  the  said  land  they 

gave  the  name  St.  John  because  it  was  discovered  that  day. "J 
The  Latin  version  which  accompanies  this  Spanish  inscrij)- 
tion  says  more  particularly  that  the  island  was  called  St.  John 
after  the  Baptist,  whose  feast  was  celebrated  on  that  day  by  tlie 
Catholic  Church.§  In  no  other  place  besides  Sebastian  Cabot's 


!"    :il 


repeated  attempts  made  by  John  Cabot  to  reach  Asia  by  'xay  of  the  Wed, 
Coliiitibus  discovered  the  West  Indies."  Le  Navif/azioni  di  O.  Caboto,  in  the 
Memorie  delhv  societil  ireografica  Italiana.  Vol.  i,  p.  287.  The  only  hiHtorical 
source  for  what  John  Cabot  wanted  and  souglit  in  liis  first  voyages  we  find  in 
tliis  dispatch  of  the  ambassador  Ayala,  and  llie  islands  of  Brazil  and  of  the 
Seven  Cities  which  he  mentions,  have  not  tlie  slightest  connection  with  the 
cnstern  coasts  of  Asia,  but  were  supposed  to  be  situated  in  the  middle  of  the  vast 
Atlantic  Ocean.  'Ihis  inexactness  however,  in  no  Way  diminishes  the  merit  of 
ihe  distinguished  writer  who  is  a  zealous  ctdlivator  and  explainer  of  the  his- 
toric geographical  studies  of  our  old  navigators. 

*  In  chap.  vii.  f  Se«  App.  xi,  xiii.  i  See  App.  iii. 

|"Terram  banc  olim  nobis  clausam  aperuit  Joannes  Cal)otus  Venetus,  necnon 
8el)astianu8  Cabotus  ejus  Alius  anno  ab  orbe  redempto  1494,  die  vero  24  Julii 
(sic)  hora  5  sub  diluculo,  qua  terra  prima  visa  appellarunt,  et  Insula  quandil 
magna  ei  apposita.  Insula  divi  Joannis  nominarunt,  quippe,  quae  solemn!  die 


THK  DATE  OF  THE  DISCOVERY. 


41 


I'lMiiisplicro,  is  any  ivcoid  found  oltliis  discovery;  sotluitthoro 
lijis  Ikh'M  ^rwit  discussion  on  this  inscription,  wlicihcr  it  should 
!)(>  iidniittcd  as  it  stands,  oi-  an  error  he  lield  to  have  occurred 
ill  tninscrihin^  it.  And  even  now,  Mlthou<i:ii  the  point  which 
(•routed  tiio  nniin  diirK;ulty  Juis  Ix-cn  explained  and  entirely 
clciircd  up,  the  discovery  of  1  11)4  has  not  succeeded  in  gaining 
11  free  i)at]i  anion<;  the  doubts  of  historical  criti(!isni. 

Tli(M|uestion  in  tli(^  past  has  been  this:  Sebastian  (Cabot's 
()ii;,niial  map  of  the  world  has  been  lost,  and  the  only  reniain- 
iii^f  copy  is  preserved  in  the  National  Library  at  Paris.  From 
this  is  taken  the  copy  of  the  inscription  which  we  Imvojust 
j,'ivcn.  Of  the  lost  copies,  only  two  have  left  any  record  of 
this  iiiscrii)tion,  one  of  which  was  at  Oxford,  and  the  other  at 
Whitehall,  Westminster,  engraved  by  Olement  Adams.  The 
one  at  Oxford  was  road  and  copied  by  Nathan  Kochlaff,  called 
ill  fjutin  Chytreus,  the  other  at  AVestminster  was  inserted  by 
Ilakiuyt  in  his  collection.*  The  inscription  preserved  by 
Chytrous  is  identical  with  f  at  we  have  just  read  from  the 
copy  of  that  at  Paris.  But  that  given  by  Hakluyt  instead 
of  1494  puts  1497. t  With  Hakluyt  agrees  a  very  old  chronicle 
of  Bristol  which  says  that,  "In  the  year  1497,  the  24th  of  June 
on  St.  John's  day  was  Newfoundland  found  by  Bristol  men  in  a 
ship  called  the  Matthews. ";{:  The  evidence  on  each  side  being  so 
evenly  balanced,  opinions  were  divided  ;  some  held  out  for 
14!)4,  others  for  1497  ;  and  both  parties  sought  to  confirm  their 
opinion  by  the  very  same  point,  both  appealing  to  the  letters 
p.atent  granted  to  John  Cabot  by  the  King  of  England  in  1496. 
According  to  the  first,  these  letters  absolutely  presupposed 
sonic  discovery  already  made  by  the  Venetian,  and  therefore 
sustained  the  authenticity  of  the  Paris  and  Oxford  copies  ;  § 
according  to  the  others  these  Letters  have  not  the  slightest  al- 


fusto  divi  Joannis  aperta  fuit."      The  Spanish  inscription  has  correctly  June. 

*  See  App.  iii.  +  lb. 

X  William  liarrett.  nidory  and  Antiquitief,  of  the  city  of  Bristol  compiled 
from  original  Records  and  Authentic  Manuscripts.     Bristol,  1789.  p.  172. 

§  "There  is  no  possible  way  of  reconciling  the  various  accounts  collected  by 
Hakluyt  and  which  amount  to  no  less  a  number  than  six  but  to  suppose  John 
Cabot  to  have  made  one  voyage  at  least  previous  to  the  date  of  the  patent,  and 
sometime  between  that  and  the  date  of  the  return  of  Columbus."     John  Bar- 


W  :; 


42 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CABOT. 


\\i 


W'  '' 


% 


lusion  to,  or  connection  with  any  previous  discovery,  and  from 
their  silence  on  this  point  they  adduce  their  argument  a- 
gainst  the  date  of  1494.  As  usually  happens  in  such  matters, 
where  the  argument  depends  more  on  the  personal  valua- 
tion of  the  writer  than  on  its  intrinsic  force,  there  was 
great  consumption  of  ink  and  paper,  each  remaining  more 
firmly  convinced  in  his  own  opinion.  The  Westminster 
date  acquired  great  support  from  the  very  name  of  Hakluyt 
who  was  the  highest  authority  on  English  voyages  in  the 
XVI  century.  But  M.  d'  Avezac,  the  erudite  Frenchman 
who  has  rendered  such  valuable  service  to  the  history  ol 
geography,  especially  to  that  of  Columbus  and  Cabot,  had 
the  merit  of  not  only  taking  away  that  support,  but  of  annull- 
ing completely  the  opposition  of  the  Westminster  copy.* 
Hakluyt's  partial  collection  on  the  discovery  of  America 
naturally  loses  in  value  after  his  great  collection  containing 
all  the  navigations  and  voyages  of  discovery  of  the  English  ; 
and  the  second  edition  of  his  great  collection,  published  in 
1598-1000,  improved  and  enlarged,  supersedes  the  former,  and 
on  it  were  based  all  subsequent  ones.  Now  Avezac  had  the 
lucky  thought  of  comparing  the  first  collection  with  the  later 
on  this  point,  and  found  the  inscription  transcribed  from  the 
copy  of  the  Map  of  the  World  in  the  gallery  at  Westminster 
gave  the  date  in  the  first  collection  as  1494,  the  same  as 
the  two  copies  at  Paris  and  Oxford,  and  tl^o  unfortunate 
typographical  error  which  in  the  enlarged  work  changed 
1494  into  1497  was  continued  in  all  subsequent  editions.f 

row,  Chronological  History  of  Voyages  into  the  Arctic  Regions,  p.  32.  Harris  and 
Pinkerton  base  the  granting  of  the  patent  directly  on  the  discovery  of  1494, 
"  Upon  this  report  of  his  the  before-mentioned  patent  was  granted,"  Harris, 
Collection  of  Voyages  and  Travels,  London,  1744.  8.  vol.ii,  p.  190.— Pinkerton's 
Collection,  vol.  xii,  p.  15S. 

*  M.  d'  Avezac  was  the  first  to  point  out  in  the  Cabot  voyages  certain  mile- 
stones, as  it  were,  for  the  guidance  of  the  historian  so  that  he  should  not  lose  his 
way  in  the  great  conf  u  sion .  See  the  Bu  lletin  de  la  societe  degeographie,  for  October 
1857,  the  historical  Introduction  to  the  second  volume  of  the  voyages  of  Jacq\ies 
Cartier,  in  186S,  and  in  the  same  Bulletin,  Tome  viii,  Paris,  1869,  the  article  en 
titled  Les  Navigations  terre-neuviennes  de  Jean  et  Sebastien  Cabot. 

f  "  Une  faute  typographique  (plutdt  qu'  une  correction  arbitraire  mal  avisee 
a  altdre  cette  date  1494)  en  cette  mSme  citatioD  dansl'  Edition  postSrieure  du 


THE  DATE  OF  THE  DISCOVERY. 


43 


All  the  known  copies  of  Sebastian  Cabot's  map  being  thus  in 
accord,  it  might  reasonably  be  supposed  that  the  date  borne  by 
them  is  that  of  the  original,  which  is  the  same  as  to  say  that 
this  date  is  based  on  the  testimony  of  the  very  son  of  the  dis- 
coverer, or  rather  of  one  who  was  present  at  the  discovery  and 
associated  in  the  labor  and  glory  of  the  discoverer.  In  face  of 
this  authority  what  value  is  to  be  put  on  the  contrary  testi- 
mony of  the  anonymous  chronicler  of  Bristol,  especially  as  no 
one  but  Barrett  ever  saw  or  read  liis  work,  and  therefore  we 
have  no  means  of  ascertaining  the  value  of  that  chronicler's 
words  or  the  accuracy  with  which  they  have  been  transcribed? 
I  said  all  the  copies  of  tlie  map  agree,  notwithstanding  that 
tlie  inscription  as  given  by  Purchas  has  1497,  for  there  is  no 
question  but  what  he  based  his  collection  on  Hakluyt's;  in  fact, 
in  tiie  title  itself  he  called  it  "Hakluytus  Postumus,"  a  frank 
declaration  that  he  had  only  enlarged  the  other's  work.  * 

As  he  had  before  him  not  the  first,  but  the  second  collection, 
— and  this  is  natural,  for  wishing  to  be  more  extensive  than 
Ilakluyt,  he  would  take  as  his  point  of  departure  the  last 
term  to  which  the  other  had  reached  in  his  greater  work — ho 
repeated  the  date,  1497,  as  lie  found  it  in  Hakluyt's  larger 
work.  It  is  of  no  importance  that  in  Hakluyt  the  chart  is 
said  to  bear  date  of  the  year  1544,  and  in  Purchas,  1549  ;  for 
the  two  being  in  all  else  perfectly  alike,  and  differing  in  the 
same  particulars  from  all  other  copies  which  we  know  of, 
there  is  no  doubt  that  one  is  a  copy  of  the  other,  and  by  an 
error  of  Purchas  or  his  printer  a  9  has  been  substituted  for  a 
4.  Such  error  can  astonish  no  one  who  has  written  much, 
for  he  nmst  have  observed  how  easily  a  mistake  is  made  in 
copying  figures  which  have  no  special  reason  for  fixing  the 
attention.  The  same  cannot  be  claimed  in  the  case  of  the 
«late  of  the  inscription,  for  the  defeiu  ^  of  this  rests  on  its 


H 

'   -'I 

•)1 


\;\ 


lit- 


|!   Ml"! 


/  a.v 


J. 


recueil  de  Hakluyt."  M.  d'Av.iZAC,  Les  navigations  terre-neuviennes  de  Jean 
tt  Sebimtien  Cabot— d&as  le  Bulletiu  de  ia  SociSte  de  Geographic.  T.  xviii. 
Paris  1869,  p.  360. 

*  Hakluytus  Postumus  or  Purchas,  His  Pilgrims,  etc.  London,  1625,-1626.-The 
fifth  volume  was  published  separately  in  1615,  but  the  edition  of  1626  is  to  be 
preferred. 


%} 


^f 


44 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CABOT. 


iliil 


n.v 


being  repeated  and  confirmed  in  all  the  charts  that  are 
known,  drawn  and  engraved  at  various  times  by  various  per- 
sons, and  moreover  ditiering  in  several  particulars  one  from 
another,  so  that  there  cannot  be  the  slightest  suspicion  that 
tbey  are  rejiroductions  of  the  same  copy.  *  It  is  true  tliat 
Purchas  says  that  he  lias  examined  with  his  own  eyes  the  mnp 
in  Whitehall  from  which  his  inscription  is  taken  ;  but  tliat 
examination  was  of  the  map  in  general,  as  to  the  position  of  the 
now  lands  to  which  the  inscription  refers  ;  and  ho  had  no  in- 
terest in  the  year  when  the  map  was  printed  as  it  Avas  of  no 
sort  of  importance  to  the  question  he  was  studying,  for  the 
dispute  had  not  then  arisen  whether  Jolin  Cabot  discovered 
his  first  land  in  1494  or  1497.  Even  Ilarrisso,  who  refers 
this  first  discovery  to  1497,  paj^s  no  attention  to  this  differ- 
ence of  the  year  of  printing,  but  regards  the  chart  given  by 
Purchas  ns  the  same  thing  as  Hakluyt's.  f  On  what  groumlfs, 
then,  does  Harrisse  contend  for  1497,  and  hold  out  against  tlic 
clear  and  absolute  testimony  of  three  copies  of  Sebastian 
Cabot's  map  of  the  world  ? 

His  studies  and  publications  concerning  the  discovery  of 
America  give  a  special  importance  to  his  adverse  opinion, 
and  it  demands  attention  and  discussion  more  than  any 
other.  He  begins  by  declaring  himself  averse  to  admittiufj; 
the  date  1494,  because  there  may  have  been  an  error  in  copy- 
ing it.  "I  hesitate,"  he  says,  "to  accept  this  date  of  24  June. 
1494,  first  brought  forward  half  a  century  after  the  events, 
and  which  might  be  only  a  lapfiiin  of  the  engraver  :  MCCCC 
XCIIII  for  MCCCCXCVII,  an  error  all  the  easier  to  make 
as  the  first  I  s  joined  at  the  bottom  form  a  V.":}:  Nor  is  he  quieted 


*  See  further  on  in  chapter  xxvii,  where  it  treats  directly  of  the  charts 
and  writings  left  by  Sebastian  Cabot. 

f'Notre  Sentiment,  cependant,  en  admcttant  des  fantes  de  trnnscriptlon,  et 
d'imprimeur,  est  qu'  on  peut  ramoner  ces  quatre  descriptions  &  trois  types 
seuleinent ;  la  carte  de  la  Bibliotlifiqiie  Nationale,  la  carte  deerite  par  Chytrciis, 
et  celle  gravee  par  Clement  Adam  (thai  mentioned  by  Hukliiyt). " — Jean  et 
Sebastien  Cabot ;  p.  156. 

^"Nous  hesitons  ii  accepter  cette  date  dii  24  Juin,  1494,  prodnite  pour  In 
premiere  fois  un  demi  sicicle  apri>s  les  evenements,  et  qui  poiirrait  n'  Ctre  (lu' 
un  lapsus  du  graveur  :  MCCCCXCIIII  pour  MCCCCXCVII  ;  erreur  d'  autuut 


hahhisse's  objectionh. 


45 


bv  the  inscription  in  Latin,  which  has  the  same  date  1494, 
not  in  Roman  letters,  but  in  Arabic  figures,  because  lie  believes 
for  various  reasons  that  this  translation  was  made  afterwards 
in  the  Notlierlands  or  Germany,  without  Cabot's  being  able  to 
correct  tlie  mistake.* 

l?iit  tliis  is  only  a  suspicion  :  his  rcsal  reason  for  rejecting 
lli;U  (lute  is  that  it  does  not  seem  to  hnu  to  agree  with  certain 
(l(»cuiuonts  which  we  have  concerning  the  discoveries  of 
John  Cabot.  Let  us  examine  his  doubts.  January  21,  1406, 
Puebla  informs  his  sovereigns  in  Spain  that  "One  has  gone 
like  Columbus  to  propose  to  the  King  of  England  an  under- 
tiikiiig  like  that  of  the  Lidies."  From  the  reply  of  the  S^ian- 
ish  Sovereigns,  says  ILirrisse,  it  appears  that  this  project  was 
at  that  time  a  novelty  at  the  English  Court.  So  far  we  are 
{i<,nec(l,  but  he  adds  :  "  If  Cal)(»t  had  already  made  a  voyage 
like  Columbus  in  search  of  Cathay  and  had  discovered  two 
years  before  countries  which  were  believed  to  be  the  Kingdom 
of  the  Grand  Khan  or  leading  to  it,  the  andjassador  would 
not  have  attached  importance  to  prcijects  which  could  now 
l)c  of  no  conse(juence,  and  the  Catholic  Kings  would  have 
abstained  from  making  itthesul)ject  of  so  significant  a  diplo- 
matic coinmunicatioii  "  f  I  confess  th:i*  1  cannot  si'ize  the 
thread  of  Ilarrisse's  reasoning.  If  the  1  ;iid  was  alr<  idy  dis- 
covered Cabot's  project  was  of  no  ('"n sequence  ?  On  the  con- 
trary, it  seems  to  me  that  the  dang  "v  Spain  was  not  in  the 
material  fact  of  the  discovery,  but  in  it.-^  possesKi'>n  by  some  gov- 
orument  whose  flag  should  open  to  it  the  ptn  n  of  commercial 


If  the  charts 


plus  fiicile  ft  commettre  que  les  deux  iireniiers  i.  rappoches  d  la  base,  formeut 
uu  V."  1.  c.  p.  56. 

*"  Lii  fraduction  latine  dit  bien  :  Anno  nb  orbe  redempto  1494,  en  rl.iffrcs 
rdiiiiiiiis  ;  mais  cette  version  a  ete  faite  posteneiireinent  D,  h\  redactii  de  la 
lc'i;un(ie  espagnole,  dans  les  Pays-Bas,  ou  eu  Allemague,  saas  que  Cabot  put 
c'drrii^er  le  lapsus." — lb    p.  5G,  aote. 

f'Le  langage  de  la  depOcslie  iiidiqueque  ceprojet  etaii  alursunenouveaufii  a 
lacour  d'Aiigleterro  SI  Cabot  avail  dejil  fait  uu  voyage  couime  Colon  '>  4 
rcclierche  du  Catliay  et  avait  decouvcrl  depuis  deux  ans  des  pays  qu'  on  :oy- 
iiitCtic  le  royaume  du  Grand  Khan,  on  y  couduire,  I'aniliassadeur  n'aurait  pas 
attache d'itnporlance  tides projc'ts  desormais  .'^aus  portee,  et  les  liois  Catiioliques 
se  soraient  abstenus  d'en  faire  1'  objet  d'une  corainuuication  diplontialique 
iiiissi  significative."  1.  c.  p.  57. 


46 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CABOT. 


i 


iL!;!;;iiiai 


" ' 


connections.  This  is  precisely  what  John  Cabot's  request  aimed 
at:  and  it  was  therefore  with  his  application  that  the  danger  of 
Spain  commenced.  In  fact  the  privilc3<jje  granted  toGabot  bears 
the  date  of  March  5, 1496,  and  Puebla's  dispatch  to  his  sover- 
eigns of  the  21st  of  the  previous  January;  which  proves  that  the 
Spaniard  watched  the  proceedings  and  raised  his  voice  as  soon 
as  he  learned  that  the  council  of  the  English  government  were 
inclined  to  favor  Cabot.  If  the  discovery  of  1494  was  true, 
would  not  Puebla  have  been  bound  at  that  time  to  give  im- 
mediate notice,  it  being  easy  to  foresee  that  the  possession 
would  inure  to  the  English  government  ?  He  would  certainly 
have  been  bound  to  do  so,  if  he  had  known  of  the  discovery. 
That  he  did  not  know  of  it  I  firmly  maintain.  That  John 
Cabot  was  aware  of  the  Bull  of  Alexander  VI,  which  gave 
Spain  all  the  lands  and  infidel  peoples  found  beyond  the  line 
he  indicated,  is  something  too  clear  and  evident  for  discussion. 
As  soon,  therefore  as  he  succeeded  in  his  first  discovery, 
it  was  not  only  his  interest  but  an  absolute  necessity  to  have 
the  support  and  protection  of  some  government.  Without  that 
all  his  labor  would  be  lost  ;  for  Spain,  by  the  privilege  procured 
from  the  Supreme  Pontiff  would  have  risen  against  him  at 
once,  and  what  means  had  he  to  enforce  his  rights  ?  That  after- 
wards so  long  a  time  elapsed  before  he  obtained  his  grant  will 
surprise  no  one  who  reflects  that  he  was  "poor  and  a  foreign- 
er,"* and  under  such  circumstances  it  was  no  easy  or  speedy 
matter  to  obtain  his  request  from  the  English  government.  In 
the  meanwhile  it  was  necessary  for  him  to  keep  his  discovery 
concealed — except  to  the  government  with  which  it  was  to  be 
used  as  the  chief  argument  for  gaining  his  request — lest  Spain 
notified  of  the  (n^ent  should  invade  the  land  and  planting  her 
flag  claim  its  possession  This  would  close  his  way  not  only 
to  the  protection  of  England,  but  probably  also  to  future  dis- 
coveries. "But,"  continues  Harrisse,  "if  Cabot  in  1494  had 
found  the  land,  the  new  expedition  (of  1497 )would  have  been 
the  consequence  of  that  discovery,  and  the  new  lands  requiring 
equally  the  sovereignty  of  a  Christian  monarch,  the  text  of  the 


*  SoDt  loo,  App.  ziii. 


HARRISSE  S  OBJECTIONS. 


47 


letters  patent  of  March  5,  1496  would  have  mentioned  and 
claimed  them.  We  should  find  in  thern,  as  in  those  the  chan- 
cery issued  to  John  Cabot  from  Westminster  February  3, 1498, 
for  the  same  purpose  :  'We  authorize  our  well-beloved  John 
Cabot  to  convey  and  lead  the  said  ship  to  the  land  and  isles  of 
lato  found  by  him,'  and  not  merely  this  vague  and  trite 
expression  'in  whatever  part  of  the  world  they  may  be  sit- 
uated.'"* 

This  putting  forward  of  the  way  in  wliich  the  chancellor 
might,  could,  or  should  have  acted  seems  to  me  a  useless 
question,  in  which,  if  it  is  easy  to  make  an  assertion  it  is 
equally  impossible  to  prove  or  refute  it.  Why  should  the 
chancellor,  in  case  he  had  to  mention  the  same  matter  twice, 
at  different  times,  two  years  apart,  feel  obliged  to  use  the 
same  words  to  express  it  each  time  ?  Did  he  perhaps  have  an 
established  form  after  which  he  modelled  his  letters  ?  No.  The 
mind  is  free  in  its  movements,  and  it  is  not  wonderful  that  at 
different  times  it  should  use  different  words  to  express  two 
similar  matters.  But  suppose  the  similarity  of  the  matters  re- 
quires similarity  of  expression,  will  not  diverse  conditions 
produce  diversity  in  this  similarity  ?  The  English  govern- 
ment had  the  same  interest  as  John  Cabot  had  to  keep  his 
discovery  concealed.  That  Spain  would  raise  a  cry  and  make 
trouble  was  not  only  easy  to  foresee,  but  was  certain.  In  fact,  as 
soon  as  the  ambassador  Puebla  was  able  to  learn  that  Ca- 
ji  bet's  application  had  gained  a  hearing  in  King  Henry's  coun- 
cil, he  wrote  at  once  to  the  Court;  and  both  then  and  afterwards 
he  as  woll  as  Ayala  was  persistent  in  complaining  to  the  Eng- 
lish govtrnment  against  the  favor  shown  to  Cabot's  voyage,  as 


*  "Si  Cabot  avail  trotive  en  1494  1'  lie  et  les  terres  decrites  dans  la  Carte  de 
1544  ....  cette  couvelle  expedition  aurait  et6  la  consequence  de  la  premiere 
decouverte,  et  les  nouvelles  terres  exigeant  tout  an  moina  la  souvrainete  d'un 
monarque  Chretien,  le  texte  des  lettres-patentes  du  5  mars  1496,  les  aurait 
certainement  rappelees  et  revendiquees.  On  y  lirait,  comme  dans  les  lettres  de 
oliancellerie  expediecs  ft  Jean  Cabot  de  Wt'stniinster  le  3  fevrier  1498,  pour  le 
mfime  objet :— Nous  autorisons  notre  aimc  Joii;i  Kabotto  ft  conduire  les  dHs 
navires  ft  la  terre  et  aux  lies  par  lui  recemment  trouvees  ....  Nous  n'  y 
verrions  pas  seulement  cette  phrase  vague  et  banale,  'in  quacumque  Parte 
Miuidipositos.  .  .'"l.  c,  p.  58. 


w> 


Ml 


.-n 


i 

.  1 


X 


y 


y 


/ 


wm 


il-;ii^ 


li! 


11  : 


-     i\ 


•i        :.i!Ji; 


48 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CABOT. 


injurious  to  the  rights  of  Spain.  The  Englisli  chancery  would 
therefore  prudently  keep  silence  concerning  that  first  discov- 
ery, and  speak  in  general  terms  so  as  to  give  less  ground  for  tho 
complaint  of  Spain,  who  in  face  of  the  uncertainty  of  the  fad 
would  be  less  suspicious,  especially  as  the  expeditions  sent  out 
for  years  back  by  others  and  even  by  CJabot  seemed  to  promise 
for  this  attcii  i  pt  the  same  vain  waste  of  toil  and  cxj)ense.  It  was 
ditferent  when  Cabot  had  planted  the  English  banner 
in  his  discovery,  and  proclaimed  that  new  land  the  property 
of  England.  The  complaints  and  protests  of  the  Spanish  court 
would  be  more  easily  blunted  against  an  actual  possession. 
Moreover,  was  the  English  government  so  surely  persuaded  of 
the  discovery  by  John  Cabot  as  to  be  willing  to  authenticate 
it  by  its  word  without  further  evidence  ?  I  think  not,  an<l 
seem  to  find  in  Soncino's  letter  a  sound  argument  for  tliis 
opinion.  In  reporting  to  the  Duke  of  Milan  Ibis  discovery 
made  by  the  same  Cabot  in  145)7,  and  over  which  there  was 
extraordinary  rejoicing  tbroughou>^  England  from  court  to 
people,  he  says  :  "  This  master  Jolm  a  poor  man  and  a  for- 
eigner, would  not  have  been  believed,  if  his  comj)anions, 
nearly  all  of  whom  are  Englishmen  and  from  Bristol,  had  not 
borne  witness  to  the  truth  of  what  he  tokl."^  This  he  Avrote  of  tlie 
discovery  made  by  Cabot  after  receiving  his  grant,  that  is  to 
say,  made  under  the  flag  and  in  the  name  of  the  King  of  Eng 
land.  If  so  little  credit  was  given  him  then,  when  he  was 
clothed  with  official  garb,  what  would  have  been  given  him 
when  presenting  himself  as  a  mere  private  individual  ?  Nor 
does  this  view  contradict  the  conviction  before  expressed  that 
the  discovery  of  1494  was  used,  as  the  main  argument  for  ob- 
taining the  grant  applied  for,  l)ecause  for  that  purpose  it  was 
enough  for  the  council  of  the  crown  to  liave  oven  a  doubt  that 
it  might  be  true  since  the  government  ventured  notbing — 
neither  money  nor  name — in  gi-anting  the  request,  but  only 
gave  authority  to  raise  its  Hag  in  such  places  as  inujht  he  discov- 
ered. If  the  previous  discovery  was  true,  England  was  sure  to 
gain  ;  if  false,  it  lost  nothing. 

*  See  App.  xiii. 


ry  would 
it  discov- 
id  for  the 
[■  the  fact 
3  sent  out 
)  promise 
se.  It  wa.s 
I  bumier 
property 
ish  court 
ossession. 
suaded  of 
henticate 
not,  and 
;  for  this 
discovery 
,here  was 
court  to 
md  a  for- 
ipanions, 
I,  had  not 
rote  of  the 
that  is  to 
if  of  Eng'' 
1  he  was 
iven  liiia 
lal?  Nor 
3ssed  that 
nit  for  ob- 
ose  it  was 
louhtthat 
lotliinji; — 
,  but  only 
;  he  (/'/.scoc- 
as  sure  to 


'f: 


'.m 


I  ' ,' 


f- «! 


'  m 


r: 


Esa  tiera  fue  descubierta  por  loan  Caboto  Veneciano,  y  Sebastian 
Caboto  8U  hijo,  anno  del  nasciraiento  de  nuestro  Salvador  Jesu  Christo  de 
M.  CCCC.  XCIIII,  a  veinte  y  quatro  de  lunio,  por  la  mannana,  ala  qual 
pusieron  nombre  prima  tierra  vista,  y  a  una  isla  grande  que  esta  par  de  la 
dha  tierra,  le  pusieron  nombre  sant  loan,  por  aver  sido  descubierta  el 
mismo  dia  la  gente  della  andan  vestidos  depieles  de  animales,  usan  en  sm 
guerras  arcos,  y  flechas,  lancas,  y  dardos,  y  unas  porras  de  palo,  y  hondas. 
Es  tierra  rauy  steril,  ay  en  ella  rauchos  orsos  plancos,  y  ciervos  miiy 
grandes  como  cavallos  y  otros  muchos  animales  y  semeianteraente  ay  pascado 
infinito,  soUos,  salmoeri,  lenguados,  rauy  grandes  de  vara  enlargo  y  otras 
muchas  diversidades  de  pescados,  y  la  mayor  raultitud  dellos  se  dizeii 
bacealaos,  y  asi  mismo  ay  enla  dha  tierra  Halcones  prietos  cuonio  cuervos 
Aquillas,  Perdices,  Pardillas,  y  otras  muchas  aves  dt  diversas  raaneras. 


-^PW-^W^PIHI 


THE  DATE  1494. 


49 


But  let  us  carry  the  question  to  a  new  field  where  we  can 
move  with  more  freedom  and  surety.  The  ambassador,  Ayala, 
lias  told  us  that  John  Cabot  began  his  expeditions  in  141)1  and 
continued  them  regularly  every  year.  Did  he  from  the  be- 
Lnuniiig  apply  for  the  grant  which  he  asked  for  and  obtained 
in  WW),  or  did  he  not  ?  We  have  no  knowledge,  but  with  one  or 
(lie  other  supposition  we  must  necessarily  get  at  the  truth.  If 
he  had  asked  for  and  not  obtained  it,  what  moved  the  govern- 
ment to  give  in  1490  what  before  it  had  refused  ?  It  seems  to 
nic  that  the  only  reason  supposablo  is  that  Cabot's  expeditions 
had  begun  to  give  good  grounds  to  hope  for  success,  and 
Ihi'so  grounds  can  only  be  a  first  proof  of  discovery.  If 
Caliot  had  asked  nothing  before,  why  did  he  ask  something 
now?  If  the  confidence  of  those  who  had  aided  him  in  past 
expeditions  still  continued,  there  was  no  reason  for  seeking 
new  aid  to  continue  his  course.  If  it  had  decreased,  how 
could  he,  "a  poor  man  and  a  foreigner,"  arouse  all  at  once  in 
tlic  government  that  confidence  which  his  old  and  tried  friends 
had  lost  under  his  constant  ftiilures  ?  I  can  very  well  under- 
stand that  if  he  had  presented  himself  to  the  government  as 
wholly  unexperienced,  he  might  by  his  arguments  and  calcu- 
lations convince  it  of  his  ability  to  seek  for  and  discover  new 
lands ;  but  what  force  of  argument  could  convince  it  of  his 
ability  in  discovery  now  when  a  trial  repeated  for  many  years 
in  succession  proved  the  contrary  ?  If,  in  the  expeditions 
from  1491  on,  he  had  not  considered  it  necessary  to  obtain 
authority  in  case  of  discoveries  to  plant  the  royal  banner  and 
declare  them  the  property  of  the  Crown  of  England,  why 
should  he  think  it  necessary  in  1496  ?— Because  then  in  sup- 
port of  his  demand  ho  could  only  allege  the  hope  of  discov- 
ery, and  now  he  presented,  instead,  the  proof  of  a  discovery 
made.  In  conclusion,  from  whatever  side  I  view  the  matter, 
I  lind  all  the  circumstances  uniting  with  full  accord  to  con- 
linn  the  date  of  Sebastian  Cabot's  Map;  and  therefore  with  inti- 
mate conviction,  I  declare  for  the  discovery  of  1494,  attested 
by  an  eye-witness, — or  rather  one  of  the  discoverers. 

The  claim  of  John  Cabot  of  having  touched  the  American 
continent  four  years  and  thirtv  seven  days  before  Christopher 

4 


1      I 


i  ''< 


r'     ■ 

r. 


50 


THK  LIKH  OK  JOHN  CABOT. 


Columbus  is  then  confinncd.  *  This  takes  nothing  from  Uio 
glory  of  that  giant  amongst  discoverers  ;  for  after  he  luid 
opened  the  way,  it  was  simply  an  accessory  honor  for  him  (o 
have  advanced  more  or  less,  but  it  is  not  a  slight  boast  for  one 
of  his  followers  to  have  preceded  every  one  else  in  reaching 
the  mainland  of  the  Now  World.      ■ 


I 


:i'i'ir'     ■' 


lifr 


yitii  illllibiitii 


M'l 


il!lifi|f!'i 

tLtiiin«tiltM;i**l 


it" 


CHAPTER  IV.  • 

What  Point  in  North  America  it  ivas  that  John  Cahot  first  discov- 
ered ill  1494. — Attempts  to  deprive  him  of  the  honor. 

What  was  the  point  that  .John  Cabot  discovered  to  wliicli 
he  gave  tlie  name  of  Fird-Seeii,  f  The  name  of  Newfoundland 
so  similar  in  meaning  to  that  of  First-Seen,  has  long  been 
generally  believed  to  be  that  where  Cabot  first  landed  ;  and 
this  seems  the  more  likely  as  to  the  west  of  the  island  of 
Newfoundland  in  the  Culf  of  St.  Lawrence,  there  is  an  islet 
called  St.  Jolin,  the  very  name  given  by  Cabot  to  the  island  | 
he  discovered  at  the  same  time  with  the  main-land.  But  the 
nam(^  Newjonndlnnd  gives  rio  aid  to  our  researches,  because  at 
first  the  English  called  by  that  name  all  their  discoveries  in 
the  northern  part  of  America,  whi^h,  for  nearly  a  hundred 
years  only  known  as  a  fishing  station,  had  come  to  be  re- 
garded as  an  appendage  to  the  great  Banks  to  which  their 
ships  resorted  for  their  rich  fisheries.  As  the  only  portion 
of  all  that  land  with  which  the  fishing  vessels  had  constant 
relations  was  the  island  close  to  the  great  Bank,  it  is  not  to  be 
wondered  at  Lhat  the  nunc  of  Newfoundland,  common  to 
the  whole  region,  was  gradually  restricted  to  the  island  alone  | 
and  became  its  proper  name.f 

*  Columbus  first  beheld  Uie  Continent  of  America  opposite  to  the  island  of 
Trinidad,  on  bis  third  voynge, August  1,  1498.  SeeTarducci,  Life  of  ChrMophA 
Columbus.  Vol.  ii  p.  60. 
t  A  memoir  of  Sebastian  Gahot  with  a  Review  of  the  History  of  Maritime  J5jsc(* 


■t> 


WHAT  LAND  WAS  FIRST  FOUND. 


61 


As  to  the  island  of  St.  John,  not  to  look  for  other  argu- 
ments, it  is  sufficient  that  it  is  historically  proved  that  it  was  so 
called  by  Cartier  in  1534,  because  on  the  Feast  of  St.  John, 
June  24,  it  terminated  his  circuit  of  the  gulf  which  he  had 
begun  on  the  10th  of  May.  At  present,  abandoning  the 
misleading  guidance  of  names,  it  is  usual  to  place  the  first 
landing  at  the  island  of  Cape  Breton,  and  this  new  opinion  is 
Diised  on  the  Planisphere  of  Sebastian  (Jabot,  who,  as  we  have 
seen,  accompanied  his  father  on  that  discovery.  On  this,  where 
the  lands  arc  drawn  that  were  discovered  in  North  America, 
there  is  a  peninsula,  the  northern  end  of  which  according  to 
the  scale  of  the  chart  lies  almost  in  the  latitude  of  48°,  30', 
imd  at  its  north-east  extremity  are  these  words,  "  First  Land 
seen."  Further  back,  to  the  west,  at  a  short  distance  from  the 
peninsula  and  nearly  in  the  same  latitude,  at  the  beginning 
of  a  broad  gulf  is  a  large  island  which  the  chart  calls  "  Sam 
Joan."  The  figure  8  placed  near  this  land  refers  tlie  reader 
to  the  corresponding  number  in  the  legends  accompanying  the 
Planisphere,  and  under  this  is  found  the  inscription  already 
given,  where  it  is  said  that  this  land  was  discovered  June  24, 
1494,  by  John  Cabot  and  his  son  Sebastian. 

In  material  configuration  no  part  of  North  America  agrees 
perfectly  with  the  form  presented  in  Sebastian  Cabot's  Map, 
but  this  was  the  common  fault  of  all  the  maps  then  made  of 
America,  a  necessary  consequence  of  the  slight  and  imperfect 
cacquaintance  with  it  then  possessed.  But  the  general  shape  of 
the  peninsula  as  well  as  the  correspondence  of  the  latitude 


'T 


i  'i^- 


J '. 


+i^. 


'^nPi 


;  •!-,'i 


crj  etc.p.  56.  This  work  was  published  at  Philadelphia, in  1831,  and  at  the  same 
time  printed  and  published  in  London.      In  England  its  sale  was  large,  and  a 
new  edition  was  issued  the  next  year,  in  1832.  The  author's  name  was  not 
given,  but  it  was  afterwards  known  to  be  the  work  of  a  lawyer,  Richard  Bid- 
I  (Ue.of  Pittsburgh,  Pa.    As  I  have  before  said,  it  is  the  first  profound  work  on 
i  the  Cabots.     It  is  not  a  history,  but  an  historical  work,  of  value  for  Cabotiaa 
studies,for  the  author  has  enjoyed  meeting  various  difficulties  and  solving  them, 
and  besides  great  acuteness  of  mind  he  applies  extensive  erudition  in  tlie  Eng- 
lish voyages  and  navigations.     One  great  fault  of  the  work  is  tlie  arrangement 
of  tlie  matters  treated  of  and  of  the  arguments  :  but  a  still  greater  is  the  au- 
1  thor's  obstinate  partiality  in  favor  of  Sebastian  against  the  merits  and  rights  of 
[his  father  John  Cabot.    I  have  used  the  second  edition  of  Loudon.  1832. 


■;»k 


iii  t 


52 


THI-:  LIFE  OP  JOHN  CABOT. 


II 


undoubtedly  represents  tlie  regions  wliero  Nova  Scotia  and 
Capo  Breton  Island  are  situated.  As  the  inscription,  "  l"'irst 
Land  Seen,"  is  at  the  north-east  extremity  of  this  region  it  must 
correspond  to  the  northern  extremity  of  Cape  Breton  Islund. 
But  where  near  Nova  Scotia  and  the  island  of  Cape  Breton 
ean  we  find  any  thing  like  the  island  which  Sebastian  (!ubot 
on  his  chart  represents  as  further  within  the  gulf  and  a  short 
distance  l)eyond  the  peninsula  ?  In  Prince  Edward's  Island, 
which  is  just  west  of  Cape  Breton,  and  which  lias  olso  been 
known  as  St.  John.  True,  the  island  seen  by  Cabot  was 
discovered  the  same  day  as  "First-seon-Land,"  and  the  distance 
from  Cape  North  to  Prince  Edward's  Island  is  seventy -twd 
miles,  a  distance  too  great  to  bo  made  the  same  day  that 
"First-seen-Land''  was  discovered.  But  if  I  see  clearly,  (Jabot 
does  not  say  that  they  touched  the  island  the  same  day, 
but  merely  that  they  gave  the  name  of  St.  John  to  an  island 
opposite,  and  which  was  discovered  the  same  day."^  The 
term  discovered  may  be  very  well  applied  to  what  is  merely 
seen,  and  so  the  difficulty  as  to  the  distance  disappears,  for 
they  saw  the  mainland  at  live  in  the  morning,  .'ind  therefore  in 
the  long  days  of  that  time  of  the  year,  had  aiuplo  time  dur- 
ing the  day  to  proceed  far  enough  to  see,  if  not  to  reach,  Prince 
Edward's  Island. 

Harrisse  measuring  too  mathematically  the  relative  posi- 
tions of  the  north-east  point  of  the  peninsula  on  Sebastian 
Cabot's  chart  and  the  island  of  Cape  Breton,  places  the  first 
land  seen  not  at  Cape  North,  which  is  the  northern  point 
of  Cape  Breton,  but  at  Cape  Fourchu  or  Perce,  which  is 
on  its  eastern  side.f  By  doing  so,  the  distance  from  tiie 
first  point  of  land  seen  to  Prince  Edward's  Island  is  so  in- 
creased as  to  render  it  absolutely  impossible  for  both  to  have 
been  seen  the  same  day.     As  an  essential  part  of  the  agree- 

*"....  y  a  una  isla  grade  que  eata  par  de  la  d  lia  tierra  le  pusieron  noinbre 
Sant  JoaD,  por  aver  sido  descubierta  el  mismo  dia."  App.  iii.  A. 

+"n  y  a  an  Canada  deux  caps  Perc6.  Celui  qui  se  trouve  sur  la  cote  N-E  de 
r  lie  du  cap  Breton,  et  «n  autre  situe  daus  la  baie  de  Gaspe,  prfis  du  mont  Joli 
ou  Cap  Tiennot.  .  .  .  C'est  le  premier  de  ces  deux  caps  qui  est  le  ndtre,  d'apr 
la  carte  de  Bayfield  precitee."  Harrisse,  p.  65. 


■ron  nombrt 


Sebastian's  planisphere. 


e» 


mont  lotwccn  the  indications  of  tho  Pliinisphoro  and  the  ac- 
count in  the  Legend  is  tlierchy  lost,  tho  possibility  that  tho 
firtit  liuuling  was  at  Capo  Breton  Island  necessarily  fails. 
But  tiio  fact  that  for  want  of  exact  knowledge  tho  Plani- 
sphere unites  tho  island  to  the  nminlund  and  makes  it  a  con- 
tinuiition  of  it  frees  us  from  the  scruple  of  a  mathematically 
exact  agreement,  tho  more  so  as  tho  capes  are  not  many 
miles  apart. 

But,  it  has  been  asked,  if  Sebastian  Cabot  knew  the  region 
of  Nova  Scotia  and  (Jape  Breton  Island  so  well  as  he  shows  in 
his  Planisphere,  how  does  it  happen  that  the  Spanish  charts, 
which  must  have  passed  under  his  revision  as  chief  Pilot,  do 
not  give  the  same  indications,  but  remain  so  far  behind  his 
chart?  How  explain  that  all  tho  charts  of  that  day  have  a 
long  extent  of  coast  in  the  northern  parts  of  America,  with 
this  inscription  or  its  equivalent,  "This  land  was  discovered 
by  tlio  English  from  Bristol,"*  and  on  none  of  them  is  Cape 
Breton  Island  comprised  in  that  long  space,  but  on  all  the 
English  discoveries  begin  at  the  north  of  Newfoundland  and 
follow  the  coast  of  Labrador  ? 

All  this  has  naturally  given  rise  to  a  suspicion  that  as  Se- 
bastian Cabot  did  not  publish  his  Planisphere  until  after  the 
exploration  of  those  parts  by  the  Frenchman  Jacques  Cartier, 
he  drew  these  places  from  information  obtained  from  others 
rather  than  from  his  own  knowledge. 

Tho  former  of  these  questions  may  be  answered  with  the 
wordsof  Sir  Humphrey  Gilbert  who  informs  us  that  the  Span- 
ish and  Potuguese  pilots  were  forbidden  under  pain  of  death, 
to  trace  on  their  navigating  charts  any  mark  whatever  which 
might  put  other  states  on  the  track  of  discovering  the  sighed- 
for  passage  leading  to  the  East  Indies. f 

•  Note  taken  from  the  chart  of  Diego  Ribeiro  (1539),  the  second  of  the  so- 
called  Weimar  charts. 

+"The  Spaniards  and  Pnrliisrals.  .  .  have  commanded  that  no  pilot  of  theirs 
upon  paine  of  death,  Should  plat  out  in  any  sea  card,  any  thorow  passage." 
llakluyt,  iii,  p.  23. 

Leone  Pancaldo,  Magellan's  companion,  in  consideration  of  2000  ducats 
bound  himself  by  notarial  deed  to  the  Representative  of  the  King  of  Portugal, 
September  30,  1531,  "di  non  insegnare  ad  alcunolastradaaipaesi  ultimamente 


'1 


64 


TiHE  LIFE  OJ'  JOHN  CABOT. 


H\ 


II  ill'  lll  I     1'  1  I 


In  consequence  of  this  prohibition,  Sebastian  could  not  pre- 
viously indicate  the  gulf  opening  to  the  west  of  "  Land  lirst 
seen  ;"  but  was  free  to  do  so  in  1544,  when  his  secret  no  longer 
amounted  to  any  thing,  the  position  of  the  gulf  being  gen- 
erally known  in  consequence  of  Jacques  Cartier's  exploration. 

The  second  objection,  it  seems  to  me,  falls  to  the  ground 
when  it  is  noted  that  Sebastian  Cabot  places  at  Cape  Breton 
Island  the  mere  fact  of  its  being  the  first  discovered  ;  whilst 
the  further  navigations  and  explorations  of  the  English  were 
along  the  lands  of  Labrador.      Hence  it  was  natural  for  the 
map-makers  to  give  the  name  of  English  lands  to  those  where 
the  English  vessels  had  generally  gone  and  still  went,  and 
not  to  the  mere  point  which  had  simply  witnessed  their  first 
arrival.   But  let  us  take  the  first  chart  that  mentions  the  Eng- 
lish discoveries, — that  of  Juan  de  la  Cosa,  pilot  of  Christopher 
Columbus, — composed  in  1500,  that  is,  soon  after  John  Cabot's 
discovery  and  many  years  before  the  places  around  Cape  Breton 
were  known  to  the  world  or  made  famous  by  the  explorations 
of  the  French  navigato..' :  and  let  us  see  if  that  first  chart  ex- 
cludes this  island  from  the  English  discoveries.      First  of  all, 
let  uz  observe  that  at  this  time  neitlier  the  Spaniards  nor  those 
of  any  o^her  nation  than  the  Englisli  had  yet  sailed  to  the 
lands  of  North  America,  so  thiit  it  must  necessarily  be  admit- 
ted that  Cosa  obtained  his  information  from  English  sources ; 
and  perhaps  Kohl's    ^»inion  is  well  founded,  that  Cosa  indi- 
cated those  places  from  a  copy  of  John  Cabot's  own  chart  sent 
to  Spain  by  Puebla  or  Ayala,  ambassadors  in    England.  * 
In  fact,  the  latter  writes  in  his  dispatch,  "I  believe  your  High- 
nesses are  already  advised  of  all  this,  and  also  of  the  charter 
map  of  the  world  which  he  made,  and  /  do  not  send  no^v  the  one 


scopevti,  e  a  non  fare  atctina  carta  geografica  che  indicasse  quel  cammlno."  G.  B, 
Bei-loro,  Elogio  di  Leone  Pancaldo. 

Ill  1527  Rolieit  Thome,  an  Englishman  of  whom  we  shall  have  occasion  to 
gppnk  further  on,  sendinj^  a  chart  from  Seville  to  the  ambassador  cf  Henry 
VIII  to  Charles  V,  cautions  him  to  keep  secret  from  whom  he  received  it,"l)c 
cause  it  might  be  a  cause  of  pain  to  the  maker."  Hakluyt.  iii,  p.  129. 

*  "There  is  no  difficulty  in  tlie  supposing  that  a  copy  of  tlie  chart  of  Ciibot 
may  have  been  sicn  by  Coss  in  i500."  KoM,  Hist,  of  the  discovery  of  Maine,  p. 
153.  From  Harrisse,  p.  104, 


^^^'^^l'*i 


eOSA  S  CIIAUt. 


55 


'■.■ml 


irhkh  I  JMve  here."*  What  he  did  not  send  then  he  may 
very  well  liave  sent  soon  after  either  of  liis  own  motion  or  by 
rcfiuest.  In  Cosa's  chart  in  the  Inchest  part  of  the  drawing, 
to  the  weet  is  marked  '*  Cabo  do  Ingkiterra"  and  beside  it 
is  a  small  English  flag.  Another  such  flag  is  marked  fur- 
ther south  near  a  cape  of  St.  John,  and  an  island  called  Trini- 
dad ;  three  more  flags  follow  lower  down  as  far  as  a  cape 
and  a  sea  bearing  the  words  'discovered  by  the  English." 
Tliis  stretch  of  land  engraved  on  the  present  maps  would  be  from 
about  the  middle  ot  Davis  Strait  to  Cape  Hatteras  ;  that  is  to 
sav,  approximately  the  extent  of  coast  along  which  according 
to  Raiiiusio,  Cabot  had  passed.  It  may  be,  as  Desimoni  con- 
jectures, that  Cosa's  chart  should  be  regarded  as  including  two 
periods  of  discovery,  indicated  by  that  cartograplier  by  the 
different  Legends  .  1.  'A  cape  further  east  with  the  name  Cabo 
de  Inglaterra,  with  the  island  under  it,  and  2.  an  extent  of  land 
and  a  sea  further  south  and  west  with  the  legend,  Mar  do- 
scubierto  por  Ingleses."  f  riie  fact  is  that  the  first  map  which 
shows  the  lands  of  North  America  not  only  does  not  restrict 
tlie  English  discoveries  to  tliC  north  ot  Newfoundland,  but 
on  the  contrary  carries  them  <i  long  way  to  the  south  of  it  ;  so 
that  Cape  Breton  Island  instead  of  being  excluded,  is  in  the 
V  ry  middle.  What  if  this  island  is  excluded  from  the  English 
section  in  later  maps  ?  Was  not  the  whole  coast  soutli  of  it  as 
far  at  least  as  Chesapeake  Bay  also  excluded  ?  Yet  that  this 
was  first  seen  and  discovered  by  Sebastian  Cabot  at  tlie 
head  of  the  English  is  proved  by  the  concordant  tes+imony  of 
Ramusio  and  Peter  Martyr  ;  and  the  latter  related  it  as  early 
as  1516.  The  southern  portion  of  the  English  discoveries 
was  called  by  the  Spaniards  Land  of  Estevan  Gomez  from 
their  countryman  who  coasted  along  more  or  less  of  it  in  1525, 
twenty-seven  years  after  it  had  been  discovered,  because  they 
first  obtained  knowledge  of  it  through  him.  Is  not  the  case 
the  same  as  to  Cape  Breton  I.'^land  and  neighboring  lands  with 
reference  to  the  French  voyages  ami  e:  plorations  ? 
It  seems  to  me  that  a  ray  of  light  can  be  thrown  on  the 


l-M. 


I  '\ 


:H: 


'-  i      ( • 


*  See  App.  xvl. 


f  lutorno  a  Giovanni  Ciiboto,  p.  87. 


f 


56 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CABOT. 


I    ■! 


I       i 


,;3ii 

ii 

\lM 

ifr 


|i 


question  by  the  direction  taken  by  John  Cabot  on  his  second 
voyage,  and  therefore  I  believe  it  will  bo  well  to  anticiputo  a 
brief  mention  of  it  here,  Soncino,  writing  to  the  Duke  of 
Milan  says  :  "Master  John  Cabot  ....  sailing  from  Bristol, 
the  western  port  of  this  Kingdom  and  passing  Ireland,  furtlior 
west,  and  then  going  higher  up  towards  the  north  commenced 
to  sail  to  the  eastern  parts."*  To  know  Cabot's  intention  we  must 
settle  the  order  of  his  ideas  in  regard  to  the  expedition  he  was 
undertaking.  This  is  easy  enough,  for  the  history  of  Christo- 
pher Columbus  just  after  the  discovery  of  the  New  World  is 
an  exact  mirror  of  what  everybody  thought  about  the  lands 
found  beyond  the  Atlantic.  Columbus  left  Spain  witii 
the  expectation  of  reaching  the  territory  of  the  Grand 
Khan  :  he  had  touched  land  at  San  Salvador,  Cuba,  Haiti, 
with  the  conviction  that  he  had  come  to  the  land  of  the 
Grand  Khan  ;  he  had  returned  to  Europe  with  the  announce- 
ment never  doubted  by  him  or  anybody  else  that  he  had 
arrived  at  the  land  of  the  Grand  Khan.  Could  John  Cabot  think 
differently  ?  Certainly  not.  Sailing  then  on  an  expedition  of 
discovery  beyond  the  Atlantic  for  the  account  of  England, 
he  did  and  could  only  look  to  reaching  also  the  land  of 
the  Grand  Khan,  which  at  that  time  was  the  ultimate  term 
of  the  desires  and  hopes  of  discoverers  and  traders.  But  if 
the  empire  of  Cathay  lay  on  the  other  side  of  the  Atlantic, 
Cabot  knew  very  well  that  it  extended  an  immense  distance 
from  north  to  south,  and  therefore  was  sure  to  bo  found  by 
sailing  directly  west  from  England,  Why,  then,  instead  of  sail- 
ing directly  west  after  leaving  Bristol,  does  he  go  further 
north  and  only  after  reaching  a  certain  latitude  turn  his  pro\ts 
to  the  west.  It  is  absurd  to  suppose  that  he  hoped  to  find 
riclier  lands  by  going  some  dozens  of  miles  further  north,  or  that 
he  made  that  bend  without  a  motive.  What  could  have  been 
his  motive  ?  It  was  this  :  In  his  voyage  of  1494  he  canio  to 
Cape  Breton  Island,  and  entered  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence  sail- 
ing out  by  the  strait  of  Belle-Isle,  and  saw  as  he  sailed  that 
the  country  around  gave  no  promise  of  the  riches  dreamed  of 


See  App.  xiii. 


HATtRISSE  S  THEORY. 


67 


in  the  east.  Consequently  when  returning  in  1497  to  take 
possession  of  the  new  region  in  the  name  of  England,  he 
would  not  go  back  to  places  already  known  to  be  of  no  inter- 
est, but  sought  the  land  he  had  seen  extending  to  the  north 
of  Belle-Isle  in  the  hope  of  finding  places  of  a  different  nature 
from  those  near  First-Seen-Land  ;  and  as  one  who  knows 
what  he  wants  and  has  atixed  purpose,  after  passing  Ireland, 
he  sailed  far  enough  north  to  gain  the  latitude  of  the  lands  he 
wanted  to  reach  ;  and  then  sailed  due  west  and  landed  in  the 
region  afterwards  known  as  Labrador. 

But,  objects  Harrisse,  "if  Cabot  had  entered  the  Gulf  of  St. 
Lawrence  and  afterwards  passed  out  by  the  Strait  of  Belle- 
Isle,  Newfoundland  would  not  have  continued  to  figure  as 
part  of  the  mainland  on  all  the  maps  without  exception,  for 
forty  years  longer.*  This  objection  which  would  be  insur- 
mountable taken  by  itself  alone,  is  solved  and  disappears 
when  taken  in  connection  with  another  fact  in  the  story 
of  Cabot.  It  is  historically  proved,  and  nobody  doubts 
it,  that,  as  we  shall  see  in  the  proper  place,f  Sebastian 
Cabot  on  his  voyage  in  1498,  came  down  the  coast  from 
Labrador  exploring  it  minutely  to  find  a  passage  to 
the  Chinese  countries,  in  the  supposition  that  the  land 
before  them  was  an  island.  He  therefore  could  not 
help  seeing  in  that  close  exploration  the  Strait  of  Beile- 
Islo  and  the  great  expanse  of  sea  between  Cape  Breton  Is- 
land and  Newfoundland,  and,  as  he  was  looking  for  a  passage 
to  the  west,  if  he  had  not  already  known  that  these  two  open- 
ings through  which  he  had  passed  would  bring  him  back 
to  the  Atlantic,  he  must  have  tried  one  or  the  other  to  see 
if  it  was  not  the  passage  he  was  seeking,  and  his  very  search 
would  have  .  ken  hira  along  the  coast  and  so  brought  him 


*"Si  1'  on  acceptc  i  position  de  la  petite  flotte  de  Cabot  an  moment  ou,  de  1' 
lledu  Priuce-Edwaril,  elle  se  prepare  ft  continner  sonperiple.  .  . .  Dans  cecas, 
il  ontoya  la  GHspcsie.atteisrnit  les  cotes  (iu  Bas-Canada  et  vint  d^bonclier  dans  1' 
Atlantique  par  ledetroitdc  Belle-Isle." 

"Si  celle  avait  ete  la  route  snivie  par  Cabot,  Terre  Neuve  n'  auraii  pas 
continue  jl  figurer  comme  terre  ferme  siir  toutes  les  cartes  sans  exceptions, 
pendant  quaiante  ans  encore."  Jean  et  SSbastien  Cabot,  1.  c. 

t  See  ch.  viii. 


t  • 


i      , 


r^T' 


m 


THfi  tiPE  OP  iOtiH  CAhOf. 


^^^im& 


again  into  the  Atlantic.  Thus  he  would  necessarily  hav6 
discovered  that  Newfoundland  was  an  island.  If  we  sup- 
pose that  he  did  not  know  this  before,  he  undoubtedly  would 
have  found  it  out  in  his  voyage  of  1498.  The  fact  still  remains 
that  Newfoundland  was  marked  on  the  maps  as  a  continuation 
of  the  mainland  notwithstanding  that  we  admit  as  undoubted 
that  Cabot  must  have  known  it  was  an  island.  But  if 
the  fsict  of  this  error  cannot  disprove  that  Cabot  knew  it  was 
an  island  when  this  knowledge  is  referred  to  1498,  no  more 
can  it  when  it  is  placed  further  back.  Harrisse,  with  the  idea 
that  it  is  his  duty  to  remove  from  Cape  Breton  Island  the  first 
point  of  discovery  of  the  Cabots,  carries  First-Seen-Land  to 
the  coast  of  Labrador,  in  that  space  which  the  old  maps  indi- 
cated as  land  discovered  by  the  English.  In  order  to  explain 
wliy  Cabot  on  the  contrary  marked  it  at  Cape  Breton  Island, 
he  advances  a  theory  which  would  be  an  atrocious  insult  to 
the  reputation  of  any  discoverer,  but  is  an  absurdity  in  treat- 
ing of  a  man  who  had  risen  to  such  a  height  of  authority  and 
fame  as  had  Sebastian  Cabot  when  he  published  his  Plani- 
sphere in  1544.  Harrisse  suspects  that  when  Sebastian  saw  how 
sterile  and  worthless  was  the  place  discovered  by  his  father 
and  himself,  whilst  vessels  thronged  to  Cape  Breton  Island 
audits  colonization  was  intended,  through  a  certain  weakness 
of  human  vanity  he  changed  the  spot  of  the  discovery  from 
the  sterile  land  they  had  found,  and  to  make  a  better  figure 
before  the  world,  transferred  it  to  this  other  more  frequented 
and  more  promising  for  the  future.* 

Oh,  yes,  this  man  who  had  opened  to  others  the  very  way 
to  the  northern  lands  of  America,  who  had  sailed  so  far  to 


Is:-- 


III 


u. 


*"Nou8  reconnaissons  qu'  apr^s  avoir  peso  ces  arguments  le  lecteur  est  fonde  i 
Re  (lumander  quel  pniivait  dire  V  interCl  de  Sebastien  Cabot  A  placer  son  point  d' 
atti-rrissage  au  cap  Perce  plutot  qu'au  Labrador  si  c'  est  veritablement  sur  la  col8 
do  ce  dernier  pays  qu'il  aborda.  Les  mauifestations  de  la  vanite  humaine  scut 
multiples.  Ce.  n'est  peut-Otre  qu'  une  question  d'an<our  propre,  Cabot  aura 
prefer<)  passer  pour  avoir  decouvert  un  pays  que  la  France  chemhait  alors  4 
coloniser,  et  des  riclies  p6cheries  qui  depuis  quarante  ans  attiraient  les  ndvires 
de  toutes  les  nations  du  littoral  de  1'  Atlantique,  plutOt  que  ces  terres  desolees 
oil,  selon  le  langage  cles  cnsmograplies  espagnols  et  portugais,  il  n'  y  avait  rlcn 
qui  vaiUe  :  nada  de  provecho."  lb.  p.  95. 


ATTEMPTS  To  Kofi  UIM  OF  His  &LORY, 


59 


the  north  as  to  leave  far  behind  those  who  had  followed 
him  on  that  same  course,  this  man  who  in  his  various  voyages 
Imd  seen  a  greater  extent  of  the  coast  and  territory  of  America 
than  any  one  else  at  that  time,  and  held  the  highest  position 
in  the  first  marine  ot  the  world,  this  man  must  liave  felt  the 
need  of  assuring  his  ftime  by  the  boast  that  he  had  been  the 
tirst  to  discover  a  place  near  which  a  large  quantity  of  fish 
was  caught  !  In  saying  this,  I  have  no  wish  to  lessen  the 
great  merit  of  Harrisse  or  the  gratitude  due  him  for  his 
broad  and  profound  studies  in  the  history  of  the  first  voyages 
and  discoveries  in  America.  That  I  have  stopped  to  mention 
the  injurious  suspicion  he  puts  forth  is  even  a  proof  of  my 
great  esteem,  for  if  it  came  from  any  one  else,  I  should  have 
passed  it  by  unnoticed. 

We  must  now  return  to  the  legend  of  Sebastian  Cabot's 
Planisphere  which  records  the  discovery  of  First-Seen-Lond. 
After  this  record  the  legend  goes  on  to  give  the  description 
(if  the  country  discovered.  The  doubt  expressed  by  some  that 
this  description  is  out  of  its  place,  is  to  me  a  certainty. 
Tliat  Planisphere  has  on  one  side  the  legends  or  inscriptions 
numbered  from  1  to  17,  and  on  the  other  those  from  IS  to 
22  :  one  series  is  called  "The  First  Tal)le,"  the  other  "The 
Second  Table."  In  the  body  of  the  Planisphere,  over  a  vast 
extent  of  territory  corresponding  to  what  is  now  called  Canada, 
are  written  the  words,  "De  la  Tierra  de  los  Bacallaos  ve  a 
tabhi  primera.  No.  3  ;  "for  the  land  of  the  Bacallaos  see  tlie  first 
table,  No.  3.  In  those  first  years  the  name  of  the  Bacallaos 
was  given  to  what  was  afterwards  called  Land  of  the  Laborers, 
or  Labrador  as  we  now  liuvc  it,  wliich  land  v.'as  discovered  by 
Cabot  and  became  the  principal  point  of  the  English 
navigations.  Turning  to  No.  3  to  read  the  inscription  relating 
to  the  land  of  the  Bacallaos,  wo  find  nothing  tliern  Now 
I  believe  that  the  description  of  land  added  to  No,  8  after  the 
record  of  the  discovery  of  First-Seen-Land,  belongs  under  No. 
3.  This  opinion  is  based  on  the  fuel  that  No.  3  has  no  legend, 
and  the  description  un(l(;r  No.  8  perfectly  agrees  in  general  and 
in  detail  with  what  wo  are  told  from  other  sources  at  the 
time  of  the  discoveries  about  Labrador,  and  what  we  have 
since  learned  about  it. 


.l:'i-: 


r,v  I' 


,„,^. ,., 


60 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CABOT. 


I!;  ji. 
I. 


III 

i 

i  ;           1 

Whoever  is  familiar  with  the  life  of  Christopher  Columbus 
knows  what  efforts  were  made  to  deprive  him  of  the  glory  of 
having  opened  the  path  to  the  New  World  to  mankind.  The 
Cabots  were  exposed  to  a  similar  warfare  for  the  glory  of  hav- 
ing first  arrived  in  the  territory  of  North  America.  Two 
names  have  been  preferred  before  theirs,  those  of  the  Pole, 
John  Szkolny  and  the  Portuguese,  loao  Vas  Cortercal.  Of  tlic 
former  it  is  related  that  he  was  a  pilot  in  the  service  of  Chri- 
tian  II,  King  of  Denmark,  and  in  1476  was  charged  ly 
his  sovereign  with  the  reopening  to  trade  of  the  path  between 
Denmark  and  Greenland,  of  which  it  is  said,  the  Danes  still  re- 
tained a  lively  recollection.  According  to  this  account,  Szko- 
lny passed  in  front  of  Friesland  and  Greenland  and  reached  tlie 
coast  of  Labrador  that  same  year.  But  all  the  most  indus- 
trious researches  of  the  greatest  geogra pliers  have  failed  to  find 
any  foundation  for  the  truth  of  this  pretended  expedition.  * 

The  first  to  mention  the  Portuguese  was  Gaspar  Fructucso, 
a  writer  of  the  same  nation,  living  in  the  XVI  century. f 
This  historian  writes  that  loao  Vas  Cortereal  by  order  of  Affouso 
V  explored  the  northern  seas  as  early  as  1464,  and  discovered 
a  portion  of  North  America,  what  is  properly  Newfoundland 
and  the  "Land  of  Bacalhao,  "  in  consequence  of  which  he  was 
rewarded  by  royal  decree  of  April  12,  1464,  with  the  govern- 
ment of  Terceira  Island.  The  story  of  Fructuoso  was  taken  up, 
enlarged,  and  embellished  by  Cordeiro,  another  Portuguese  his- 
torian in  his  "Historia  Insulana  das  Ilhas  a  Portugal  Sugeytas 
no  Oceano  Occidental,  "published  in  1717  ;  on  the  authority 
of  which  Barrow  gave  it  a  place  in  his  history. ;}:  Lardner 
took  it  upon  the  authority  of  Barrow  ;§  others  on  Lardner's  ; 
and  so  it  became  the  general  property  of  history. 

*Alex.  Humboldt,  Exnmen  crUiqve  de  Vllistoire  de  la  Oeograplde  du  nouveau 
Continent,  Paris,  Librairie  de  Gide,  1837,  T.  II.  p.  154.— L.  Hugues,  Le 
navigazioni  di  G.  e  S.  Cubotto,  nelle  Memorie  della  Society  Geograflca  Italiana. 
1878. 

f  He  wrote  at  tlie  Azores  in  1590  a  liistory  entitled  "Saiidades  de  Terra." 

"Land  Longings, "wiiich  has  never  been  published,  but  is  still  in  manuscript. 

See  Lucian  Cordeiro,  De  la  Decoitverte  de  V  Amerique,  p.  39. 

X  Chronological  History  of  Voyages,  p.  37. 

§CyclopsBdia,  History  of  Mantime  and  Mand  Discovery,  vol.  ii,  p.  188. 


Term." 
luscript. 


88. 


PORTUGUESE  CLAIMS. 


61 


Tho  reader  will  find  here  a  real  historical  person  with  all  the 
necessary  details  of  place,  of  time,  and  of  the  other  persons  who 
lived  and  dealt  with  him.  But  an  examination  of  all  these 
details  will  show  wliat  P>uctuoso',s  account  amounts  to. 

We  know  that  John  II,  King  of  Portugal,  was  inclined  to 
accept  the  proposal  of  Christopher  Colunihus,  hut  they  could 
(uiiie  to  no  agreement  because  "John  wanted  him  to  accept  of 
the  usual  reward  given  to  those  who  discovered  lands  or  islands 
on  tho  African  coast,"  and  Christopher  Columbus  demanded 
much  more,  saying  that  "  his  plan  was  totally  different  from 
any  that  had  been  carried  out  previously,"  and  "not  in  any 
wise  to  be  compared  with  simply  advancing  on  a  path  al- 
ready known."*  King  John,  notwithstanding  the  great 
results  promised  by  Columbus,  was  undwided  whether  to 
accept  or  refuse  his  offer,  and  submitted  it  to  the  board 
that  had  charge  of  all  matters  relating  to  maritime  discovery, 
and  of  which  the  greatest  geographers  and  astronomers  of 
the  kingdom  were  naturally  members.  Tlic  board  declared 
the  project  of  ColiimhiiH  aHogcthcr  extravagant  and  visionary.  Not 
satisfied  with  this  answer.  King  John  ordered  a  new  inquiry 
and  referred  the  matter  to  his  privy  council,  which  declared 
that  no  account  should  be  made  of  the  proposal  of  Christopher 
Colnmlms.  Still  the  King  was  determined  on  a  trial,  and  get- 
ting possession  of  the  maps  and  drawings  whicli  Columbus  had 
prepared  in  support  of  his  proposal,  he  secretly  sent  a 
ship  in  tho  direction  and  by  the  course  which  Columbus  had 
traced.  But  the  mariners  after  proceeding  a  good  distance  to 
sea,  turned  back  ^^ridicuUng  the  project  of  Columbus  as  the  dream 
of  a  feeble  mind  that  saw  land  where  there  was  and  coidd  be  only 
loaterJ'jf 

How  could  the  board  and  the  privy  council  have  declared 
the  project  of  Columbus  extravagant  and  visionary,  how  could 
the  mariners  ridicule  and  laugh  at  it,  if  Cortereal  had  pre- 
viously seen  and  visited  the  lands  beyond  the  Atlantic  ? 

Fructuoso  says,  and  Cordeiro  repeats,  giving  even  the  decree 


*  Tarducci,  Zii/e  of  Christopher  Columbus,  Yo\.  i.  p. 67. 
t  Tarducci,  lb.  pp.  69, 70. 


62 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CABOT. 


1 


i.itiii 


lifejiii 


of  King  Affbnso,  that  Cortereal  in  reward  of  his  services  re- 
ceived the  governorship  of  the  island  of  Terceira  :  but  I  find 
that  when  the  two  Portuguese,  Gonyalvez  Varco  and  Tristao 
Vaz  Texeira  with  tlie  Italian  Porestrello  discovered  the  island 
of  Porto  Santo  and  the  Madeira  group,  to  reward  them  and  en- 
courage them  in  further  enterprises,  with  the  ownership  they 
were  given  the  government  of  the  same  lands  they  had  dis- 
covered.* When,  in  1460,  the  Genoese,  Antonio  da  Noli,  was  sent 
to  ascertain  the  number  of  the  Cape  Verde  Islands  which  An- 
tonio Usodimare  and  Luigi  Cadamosto  had  discovered  four  years 
before,  he  too  was  given  the  government  as  well  as  the  charj^e 
of  colonizing  those  lands,  and  held  it  until  his  death.  How- 
happens  it  that  four  years  later  Portugal  takes  an  entirely 
diflcrent  course  with  Cortereal,  and  instead  of  sending  him 
back  to  colonize  and  govern  the  land  he  had  discovered, 
sends  him  in  the  opposite  direction  to  govern  a  land  dis- 
covered and  colonized  by  others  ?  As  soon  as  a  new  land  or 
island  was  discovered  Portugal  was  at  once  careful  to  extend 
its  knowledge  of  it  and  attempt  its  colonization  ;  what  reason 
caused  it  to  act  differently  with  the  "Terra  de  Bacalhao," 
and  suffer  it  to  fall  into  such  oblivion  that  but  for  the  record 
of  it  made  by  an  obscure  historian  almost  a  century  and  a 
half  afterwards,  it  would  never  have  been  known  of?  But 
there  is  yet  another  knot  to  untie  before  Caspar  Fructuoso's 
course  can  run  smooth.  The  famous  globe  of  Martin  Behaini 
constructed  at  Nuremburg  in  1492,  shows  all  the  lands  known 
and  discovered  up  to  that  time  ;  how  happens  it  that  it  has 
no  indication,  of  any  sort,  of  the  land  found  by  Cortereal  ? 
No  one  was  more  likely  to  know^  of  it  than  Behaim,  for  he  was 
a  most  learned  cosmographer,  and  endeavored  most  zealously 
to  show  on  his  globe  all  the  land  that  was  then  known,  and 
he  not  only  lived  at  the  court  of  Portugal,  but  was  a  member 
of  the  special  board  appointed  by  the  Portuguese  Monarch  to 
inquire  into  the  means  of  improving  navigation,  and  in  1484, 
not  contented  with  hearing  the  report  of  others,  but  wishing  to 
know  from  his  own  sight  the  new  discoveries,  accompanied 


*  Tarducci,  lb.  p.  31. 


and 


PORTUGUESE  CLAIMS. 


68 


Diego  Cam  as  the  cosmographer  of  the  expedition.  No  one 
was  in  a  better  position  to  know  of  Cortcroal's  discovery,  no 
one  more  desirous  to  bring  it  to  tlie  knowledge  of  the  civil- 
ized world. 

Homo  may,  perhaps,  bo  impressed  by  seeing  that  the 
const  where  John  Cabot's  first  discovery  was  made  bears  a 
number  of  Potuguese  names  of  gulfs,  capes,  rivers,  and  not 
one  is  called  after  Cabot.  This  fact  is  one  of  the  arguments 
on  which  Lucian  Cordeiro  insists  the  most  to  prove  his  com- 
patriot's prior  discovery.*  But  the  difficulty  bursts  and  dis- 
appears as  soon  as  it  is  squeezed  in  the  hand.  We  have  al- 
ready mentioned  that  on  their  first  voyage  the  Cabots  touched 
at  the  northern  point  of  Cape  Breton  Island,  but  that  after- 
wards they  and  the  English  who  followed  them,  continued 
their  navigations  more  to  the  north  along  the  coast  which  they 
called  of  the  Baccalaos  and  which  is  now  known  as  Labrador. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  Portuguese  Gaspar  Cortereal,  son  of 
loao  Vaz,in  1500,  sailed  to  and  explored  the  seas  and  lands  near 
the  place  of  that  first  discovery.  He  naturally  gave  Jiames 
to  the  places  he  discovered,  and  as  these  places  came  to  be  gen- 
erally known  and  began  to  bo  visited  by  shi])s  from  Europe 
after  his  navigation,  it  is  easy  to  see  why  they  should  j^e  called 
by  the  names  he  gave,  and  no  trace  should  remain  of  the  gen- 
eral term  First-Seen-Land  given  by  the  Cabots,  which  only 
indicated  the  simple  record  of  the  first  discovery,  and  left  for 
European  navigators  no  designation  for  the  special  knowl- 
edge of  the  places.  It  is  also  well  to  remember  that  the 
Portuguese  and  Spaniards  at  that  time  possessed  the  field  of 
discovery,  and  the  fresh  results  obtained  by  them  were  looked 
for  in  Europe  and  at  once  made  known  ;  whereas  the  Eng- 
lish were  coming  forward  for  the  first  time,  and  with  a  discov- 
ery which  seemed  of  no  importance.  Is  it  any  wonder,  then, 
that  the  matter  was  not  known  in  Europe,  and  that  the  mod- 
est advance  of  these  new  champions  should  be  eclipsed  by 
the  noisy  and  pompous  arrival  of  champions  already  every- 


*  Luciano  Cordeiro,  Be  la  decouverte  de  V  Amerique,  Paris,  Veuve  I . 
AiUaud  et  C.  1876,  p.  80. 


P... 


t| 


-  .^1 


\  !   • 


■  ,    I 


ii   I. 

.•If  1 


ij5 


•i ' 


64 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CABOT. 


1= 


lti  ill*!  fuiiMii 

w-\'  ■■;#!.  ■;, 

m 


where  known  and  colobratod  ?  But,  it  is  said,  in  tho  Atlas  of 
Vaz  Dourado  preserved  in  tho  Libiary  of  ^[uni(•ll,  the  majxjf 
North  America  along  the  coast-line  of  Labrador  bears  tlu; 
names  of  (inlj of  loCio  and  Land  of  lodo  Vai.  And  a  copy  of 
the  same  map  made  in  Goa  in  1571,  has  tlie  same  names* 
And  what  then  ?  Is  the  name  of  a  person  given  to  a  place  an 
argument  to  prove  that  he  discovered  it  ?  If  that  is  so,  Prince 
Edward's  Island  must  have  been  discovered  by  the  father  of 
the  present  Queen  of  Great  Britain.f  And  an  inmense  num- 
ber of  other  islands  and  lands  must  have  been  discovered  by 
the  Isabellas,  Carolines,  Mai-iannes,  Ferdinands,  Philii)-^. 
Georges  :  i  a  word,  the  reigning  houses  of  Spain,  Portugal, 
England  could  boast  of  a  fine  number  of  Princes  and  Princesses 
who  were  navigators  and  discoverers.  They  had  the  same 
part  in  discovering  the  islands  and  lands  bearing  their  naino 
that  loao  Vaz  had  in  discovering  the  gulf  and  land  named 
after  him.  The  oidy  diHerence  is  that  if  tho  names  of  princes 
were  sometimes  troduced  out  of  gratitude,  it  was  moie 
often  from  adulai.>>n,  whilst  hero  it  was  the  noble  and  holy 
affection  of  a  son.  It  is  nothing  strange  that  Gasjmr  Cortereul 
among  the  many  names  he  was  conferring  should  have 
given  his  father's  also  to  a  gulf  and  a  land.  Nor  is  it  wonder- 
ful that  so  many  years  later  in  designating  tlie  map  of  those 
places  there  should  be  found  amongst  others  tho  name  of 
loao  Vaz. 


CHAPTER  V. 


The  first  Letters  Patent. — Expedition  of  1497. 

The  three  different  accounts  which  we  have  of  the  old  Bris- 
tol chronicle  agree  in  saying  that  John  Cabot  drew  the  King 
of  England  into  his  design  by  force  of  the   knowledge  ho 

*Pe8cl)el,  Oeschichte  der  Entdeekungen,  p.  330.— From  the  article  of  L. 
Hugues  before  cited,  iathe   Memorie  delln  Societd  Geografica  Itnliana,  1878. 

t  The  Du'e  of  Kent,  son  of  George  III.  The  ishuui  was  named  after  bim 
when  he  wao  in  North  America  at  the  head  of  the  Briiii>h  fleet. 


VOYAQEH  OF  14J)7. 


65 


showed  of  how  to  carry  into  oflcct  the  project  ho  proposed. 
•This  year,"  says  one  of  llicni, '  tlio  King- (by  nieuns  of  a  Ven- 
,  ti;m,  which  iinule  himself  very  cxjiert  and  cunning  in  Knowl- 
edge of  the  circuit  of  the  world,  and  ishind.s  of  t  he  same  as  hy  a 
cardo,  and  other  demonstrations  reasonable  hee  siiewed)  eaused 
t(i  man  and  victuall  a  shippe,"  etc.  The  snmo  tiling  is  re- 
neatcd  by  tho  other  two  in  the  same  words.*  And  this  is  the 
(inly  information  we  have  of  the  long  negotiations  which 
nnist  have  preceded  the  granting  of  the  letters  patent  to  John 
CalHtt  hy  tlie  King  of  ICngi  nid.  Henry  \'II  was  reigning 
at  that  time,  a  kin*  who  with  many  line  (pialities,  was  soex- 
tiomoly  penurious  and  mi.serly  that  1  doubt  if  his  cMjual 
ever  sat  on  a  throne.  As  such  natures  are  generally  led  by 
thoir  fear  and  dislik-<i  of  spending  money  to  put  a  drag  on  all 
nc^'otiations,  the  opposition  arising  from  the  character  of  the 
rinji;li.sh  monarch  should  no  doubt,  be  counted  amongst  the 
difHculties  which  .John  Cabot  had  to  meet  and  overcome.  And 
if  is  worth  noting  that  the  royal  patent  makes  express  pro- 
vision Unit  the  exi^enses  of  the  expedition  shall  be  at  Cabot's 
solo  charge  ;  the  government  reserving  itself  the  right  to 
,-liarc  in  the  profits  if  it  succeeds.f 

The  patent  bears  date  of  March  5,  14i)(),  and  is  in  favor  of 
John  Cabot,  and  also  of  his  sons,  Lewis,  Sebastian, and  Sanzio. 
and  their  descendants  and  heirs  It  gives  them  tho  right  to  sail 
in  any  part,  lountry,  and  sea  of  the  t-ast,  west,  and  north,  un- 
der the  I"]nglish  Hag,  with  five  ships  of  any  burden  or  qual- 
ity, and  any  number  of  men  they  wished,  but  all  at  their  otni 
a-pemc,  to  look  for  and  discover  new  lands  of  infidels  and 
[)agans,  whatever  and  wherever  situated  which  before  that  time 
had  bail  unknou/n  to  all  Christia'ii.s.  They  might  raise  the  royal 
banner  in  any  place  or  land  they  should  discover,  take  pos- 
.sossion  and  exercise  jurisdiction  in  the  name  of  the  King 
:  of  England.  The  vessels  to  and  from  those  places  were  all  to  sail 
from  and  enter  tho  port  '^f  Bristol,  and  the  i)atentees  were 
I  given  the  exclusive  rig'       j  visit  the  new  lands  discovered 


U       ! 


*  See  App.  vii,  viii.  ix. 

t  Suis  et  eoruin  propriis  sumptibus  el  expensis 


App.  V. 

6 


I- 


60 


THK  LIVK  OF  JOIIX  rAHOT. 


niul  to  trade  with  thoiii.  Ono  fifth  <»t  the  net  inooino  from 
the  cx})CHliti()ii  wfus  I'oservod  to  the  crown.  They  and  thoir  heirs 
were  to  Imve  the  hinds  they  discovered  and  occupied  in  ]i(r. 
pctual  fee  assuhjects  and  vassals  of  the  Kiiijj:  of  Knj^land,  with 
the  ahsohite  prohihition  for  any  lOn^lisiinian  to  visit  those 
j)hiees  without  tlie  perniission  of  Jolm  and  ids  sons  or  llicir 
deiej^ates  and  re[)reHentatives  uncU'r  [)ain  of  oonliscation,  not 
only  of  their  sliips,  hut  of  all  their  j>roperty.'^' 

Whatever  the  cause  of  delay,  (he  undertakinjj;  approval  in 
1490  was  not  carried  into  elleet  till  1407.  In  explanation  of 
tlio  delay  it  has  heen  suggested  thai  Sjjain  raised  ohstaclcs  tn 
C'ahot's  project,  and  this  may  very  likely  have  had  soiiio- 
thing  to  do  with  it.  But  perha[)s  the  very  dilliculty  of  or- 
ganizing the  expedition  is  a  suliicient  explanation,  if  we  con- 
sider tluit  ('ahot  was  poor,  and  could  not  very  easily  liavc 
found  any  one  to  hear  the  necessary  expense,  As  the  months 
suited  for  navigation  were  those  from  s[)ring  to  the  miihlle  of 
summer,  and  the  proposed  voyage  pronnsed  tohe  long,  nuah 
of  the  good  s(!ason  might  Imve  passed  hefore  he  could  get 
ready,  so  that  it  would  ho  necessary  or  prudent  to  wait  till  tlic 
next  year.  In  fact  the  ex[)e(lition  sailed  in  145)7  in  the  lie- 
ginning  of  May,  and  it  could  not  have  heen  ready  hy  that 
time  in  14!)(),  less  than  two  months  from  the  granting  of  the 
patent  required  for  the  voyage.  .  '        - 

How  many  ships  composed  the  expedition?  Pasqualigo  bays 
in  general  terms  "  with  a  vessel";  Soncino  more  specinlly, 
"with  a  vessel  and  18  persons."  f  The  contemporary  chron- 
icle of  Bristol,  in  the  Cottonian  collection  as  well  as  ;'.n  the 
collections  of  Hakluyt  and  Stow,  has  it  a  ship  manned  at  the 
king's  expense  and  three  or  four  other  small  vessels  furnislRil 
by  citizens  of  Bristol,  on  which  some  mercliants  of  that  city 
and  of  Ijondon  ventured  some  merchandise.;}: 

Which  of  these  is  the  true  account  ?  I  notice  that  the 
account  in  tlie  chronicle  is  in  contradiction  with  the  words  of 
the  patent,whicli  expressly  provides  that  the  expedition  shall 
be  at  the  sole  expense  of  Cabot  ;  Init  at  the  same  time  that  the 


See  App.  V. 


f  See  App.  xi.  and  xiii. 


X  See  App.  vii,  viii,  ii 


DISCOVKKY  OK  1407. 


67 


rhroiiiclor  lived  on  tlio  spot  ami  wroUMlurinj^  the  expedition, 
and  uiidtT  sucli  favorable  (•iiruinstaneeH  it  i»  strange  that  he, 
only  a  st('i)  from  t,ie  harhor  <»ul  of'wliicli  Cabol  sailed,  did  not 
know  whether  the  ships  added  werethroeor  lour,and  moreover 
that  his  account  is  very  general  with  no  exact  details.  This 
iiiakos  iiHi  suspect  that  he  wrote  less  of  his  own  knowled;;!'  than 
from  licaisay.  On  tin;  other  hand,  I  ohs(!rve  thatSoneino  is  in 
iiicord  with  I'ascjuali^o,  and  with  the  terms  of  the  letters  pat- 
(iit  and  ^dvHs  the  preeisi?  numher  of  men  that  sailed  on  the 
.|iip.  This  exactness  of  statement  makes  me  thiidc  he  searched 
•  tor  correct  information  concerning  the  expedition  ;  and  as  ho 
idls  us  that  he  became  a  friend  of  John  Cabot,  and  not  only 
;.rivos  conversations  he  held  with  him,  but  even  reports  as  from 
Caliot'sown  mouth  minute  jtarlicularsof  his  futuri;  plan.  1  hold 
that  lie  had  liis  infoi'm;ition  eoncerninj;'  this  ex))e(Iition  di- 
nctiy  from  Jojjn  Cabot  himself.  Jlence  I  am  inclined  to  be- 
lieve that  the  ex}  edition  was  really  made  with  a  siuf^le  vessel, 
itiit  that  on  its  de})arturo  it  was  joined,  from  hope  of  gain,  by 
tlircc  or  four  other  small  vessels  with  some  small  articles  of  mer- 
chiindisc  for  the  peoj)le  that  should  be  discovered  ;  but  that 
neither  Soncino  nor  J'asqualiti^o  made  any  account  of  these,  as 
they  were  no  proper  part  of  the  expedition  ;  perhaps  also  be- 
eause  disheartened  by  the  leuf^th  of  the  voyage,  they  returned 
and  loft  the  real  ship  of  the  expedition  to  pursue  her  voyage 
alone. 

The  expedition  sailed  from  Bristol  in  the  beginning  of  May 
and  returned  early  in  August.  This  is  one  of  the  few  points  on 
wliieli  the  various  accounts  in  the  history  of  Cabot  are  in  ae- 
eord.  The  conten;porai'y  chronicle  in  the  Cotton  collection  says 
that  the  fleet  took  to  sea  in  the  beginning  of  summer,  which 
expression  in  language  of  seamen  may  very  well  be  under- 
stood in  the  broad  sense  of  the  whole  season  suited  for  naviga- 
tion.* And  in  fact  the  account  as  inserted  in  Hakluyt  says  more 
explicitly  that  the  departure  was  in  the  beginning  of  May.f 


*"  — departed  from  the  West  Cuulrey  iu  the  begiuniug  of  somer."    See 
App.  vii. 
T" departed  from  Bristowe  in  the  beginning  of  May."  See  App.  xiii. 


r; 


^ 


I 


•'  .1- 


j^' 


1  -'.e] 


■.*■'; 


WFf 


68 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CABOT, 


H  ; 


iHii^ 


Lorenzo  Pasqualigo  writing  to  his  brothers  on  the  23  Au- 
gust on  its  return,  says  it  was  gone  three  months  ;*  then  it 
must  have  returned  early  in  August.  And  in  the  account 
book  of  Henry  VIl's  privy  purse  under  date  of  the  lOtli  of 
that  month,  we  find  this  note  of  expense  :  "To  him  that 
found  the  new  Isle,  10  l.f 

Arriving  at  the  new  land,  they  went  ashore  and  took  pos- 
session in  the  name  of  the  King  of  England.  There  was  one 
circumstance  accompanyiiig  the  act  of  taking  possession 
which  the  Venetian  Pasqualigo  took  to  heart  with  much  feel- 
ing and  related  to  his  brothers.  We  have  already  mentioned 
it  when  discussing  the  native  land  of  John  Cabot,  as  in  the 
great  scarcity  of  documents  it  seemed  to  have  some  influence 
on  the  decision  of  that  question.  But  here,  in  its  proper 
place,  we  will  briefly  relate  ii,  again. 

The  ship  he  sailed  on  was  Englisii  ;  nearly  all  the  seamen 
who  accompanied  him  in  the  toils  and  perils  of  the  voyage 
were  English  ;:{:  he  sailed  for  the  profit  and  glory  of  England. 
On  landing,  therefore,  on  the  new  shore,  after  planting  there 
the  cross,  after  the  cusiom  of  all  discoverers  as  a  sign  that  they 
took  possession  in  the  name  of  Christ  for  the  spreading  of  his 
Faith  and  his  Law,  he  planted  by  its  side  the  banner  of  Eng- 
land to  mark  the  new  country  as  tlie  property  of  the  Eng- 
lish crown.  And  then  drawn  by  that  mysterious  bond  which, 
at  every  distance  of  time  and  place,  brings  to  us  the  image  of 
those  dear  to  us,  especially  in  the  most  solemn  and  consoling 
moments  ot  life  ;  he  crossed  in  thought  through  the  ocean, 
passed  over  England,  traversed  Europe,  and  sought  on  tlie 
shore  of  the  Adriatic  the  glorious  Queen  of  the  Lagoon.^. 
Twenty  years  had  passed  since  he  left  her,  but  neither  length  of 
time  nor  distance  of  place  could  weaken  his  tender  affection. 
i^  nd  in  the  new  land  he  had  discovered  by  the  side  of  Christ'.* 
Cross  with  the  banner  of  England  he  planted  the  flag  of  Venice,^ 


*  "Le  vonudo  ato  iiostro  Veaetiatio  che  anfld  con  uno  navilio  de  Bri8to«| 
trovar  Ixole  nove.  .  .  .et  6  stalo  mexi  tre  sul  viazo."  See  App.  xi. 
+  Hee  App,  x. 

t  "Li  cooipa^oi  chi  sono  qtiasf  tutti  Insrlesi  e  da  Bristo."  See  App.  xiH. 
§  "  Sto  inventor  di  qqe?te  cose  j1  impiantato  suli  terreni  &  trovato  una  gran  I 


HIS   LIBERALITY. 


G9 


Pasqualigo  goes  on  to  relate  that  returning  to  the  ship 
tliey  sailed  for  300  leagues  along  the  coast,  but  saw  no  person 
wliatover.  They  found,  however,  some  springes  set  to  catch 
frame,  and  a  needle  for  making  fishing  nets,  which  they  kept  to 
cany  to  the  king.  They  also  saw  some  trees  cut,  f,o  that  they 
were  sure  that  the  country  was  inhabited.  *  That  they  saw  no 
living  soul  is  easily  explained  by  the  fear  of  the  inhabitants, 
if  we  remember  how  in  the  case  of  Christopher  Columbus  the 
natives  fled  ^md  hid  themselves  on  the  first  appearance  of  his 
<liips. 

P'or  the  present  they  deemed  they  had  done  enough,  and 
returned  to  England.  On  their  way  they  discovered  two  isl- 
ands, but  passed  on  without  la-  ling  at  them,  because  they 
were  short  of  provisions. f  From  Pasqualigo's  words  it  seems 
clear  that  the  land  was  very  poor  and  the  climate  not  happy, 
and  his  words  agree  with  what  Sebastian  Cabot  afterwards 
said  in  the  brief  description  appended  to  liis  Map  of  1544 
where  he  calls  it  a  sterile  and  uncultivated  land  abound- 
ing only  in  wild  animals.;}:  Soncino  calls  it  "an  excellent  and 
temperate  land  :"§  but  on  this  point  Soncino's  testimony  is 
open  to  suspicion.  He  was  tired  of  sta}'ing  in  England,  and 
sighed  for  a  fat  benefice  in  Lombardy  :  and  intending  to 
speak  to  good  purpose  he  writes  to  his  master  that  many 
friars  will  go  back  witl\  Cabot  to  the  New  Land,  where  they 
are  promised  bishoprics,  and  if  he  v/ould  go  too  he  could 
have  an  archbishopric,  but  prefers  to  remain  in  Kis  Iligh- 
ness's  service  and  wait  for  t])e  favors  he  could  not  fail  to  receive 
from  the  Duke.|  Now  he  would  not  be  inclined  to  belittle  Ihe 


Croxe  con  una  bandiera  de  Inghilterra  e  una  di  San  Marciu)  per  easer  lui  Vene- 
tiano."  Pasqualigo,  App  xi. 

*"....  6  andato  per  la  costa  lige  300,  e  e  defimontato,  e  non  a  vii?to  persona 
algiiQ<a,  ma  a  portatoqtii  ;il  Ke  oorti  lazi  die  era  tesi  per  prendere  salvadexine, 
I'  lino  ago  da  far  rede,  e  a  trovato  certi  iilboii  tiigliati,  si  c!ie  per  questo  iudicha 
clie  xti  persone  ....''  Pasqualigo,  See  App.  xi.  ' — et  preso  cert\  seguali,  sene 
rilornatCy."  Soncino,  App.  xiii. 

f  '  .  ,  .  ,  al  tornar  aldreto  a  visto  do  ixole,  nia  non  lia  voluto  dessender  per 
lion  perder  tempo,  che  In  vituaria  11  maner.va."   Pasqualigo,  App.  xi. 

t  See  App.  iii.  ^  See  App.  xiii. 

1  "Credo  aucora  andarauo  cum  questo  passaggio  alcun  poveri  frati  italiani 


raw. 


W!'W'!^''!W(^^ 


70 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  CABOT. 


refustal  of  the  nrelibisliopric  by  vilifying  tlie  land  where  it  was 
oilbrecl  liiui.  8tiH  those  words  are  all.  the  praise  lie  bestows 
on  the  land,  and  these  lose  nnicli  of  their  force  by  his  adding 
that  the  discoverers  had  brought  back  "some  tokens,"  as  a 
sample  of  the  place,  for  if  the  land  liad  been  so  excellent  and 
temperate  they  would,  as  was  the  case  with  Columbus,  have 
brought  something  deserving  more  special  and  honorable 
mention  than  to  be  called  "some  tokens." 

Jolni  Cabot's  return  seems  to  have  wondei'fully  stirred  and 
warmed  up  the  cold  nature  of  the  English,  lie  returned  with 
the  announcement  that  he  liad  landed  in  the  Grand  Ivhaii's 
empire  and  was  naturally  believ^ed  by  everybody.* 

This  announcement  meant  that  he  had  opened  the  trcn,- 
ures  of  all  wealth  to  their  ships  and  commerce.  "These  Enj.- 
lish,"  writes  Pasqualigo,  "follow  him  like  idiots. "f 

They  called  him  "High  Admiral,"  the  king  promised 
him  a  fleet  for  a  new  expeditiim  in  the  fine  season,  and  the 
principal  merchants  of  Bristol  vied  to  take  part  in  it.} 

These  honors  seem  to  have  gone  a  little  to  his  head,  for 
lie  put  on  showy  garments  of  silk  ;  and  in  his  confidence  that 
he  had  discovered  extensive  I'egions  and  great  numbers  of 
people,  he  invited  his  companions  and  friends  to  share  in  !li^ 
fortune,  bestowing  islands  and  lands  on  some,  and  bishopi'lcs 
on  others.     Those  selected  for  his  generosity  rejoiced  in  the 


1!'-: 


li  quali  lianno  tiitti  promissionc  tie'  Vescovati,  E  per  esser  io  fatto  aniico  tie 
Larmirante,  quaiido  volcssi  amUirvi,  haveroi  uiio  Arcivescovato,  ma  lio  pin- 
sato  chtl  siapiClsicura  cosa  li  licu^licii  quali  V.  E.  me  ha  reservati."  Sec;  .\pp. 
xiii. 

*  SoNCiNO  :  "  Hua  Jlai.'Sta  lia  guadagiiat')  una  parte  de  Asia  seiiza  cclpn  dc 
spaila."  App.  xiii. 

I'ASQU.viiiGO  :  "Dice  aver  trovali)  lige  700  lontara  de  qui  Toruferma,  'm:  d 
paexe  delgrai)  Cam."  App.  xi. 

t  "  Ciiiainasi  el  Jiraii  Ariniraule  e  vienli  /ato  praiide  honor,  e  va  vestito  (iti 
seda,  e  sti  Inglexi  li  vano  lirieai  a  mo  pav.i,  e  pur  ne  voiese  taiiti  quauti  niiv- 
rebbe  con  lui !"  Pasqnalii^o,  Aiip.  xi. 

t  "El  re  1)  ha  promesso  a  leuipo  novo  iiavili  X  armati  come  lui  vonl."  I'i- 
quaiij^o,  App.  ib. 

"  Et  a  tempo  novo  se  dice  che  la  Mac.';!!!,  prefata  arniara  alouni  navilii. .  ... 
Et  li  priucipali  dull'  impresa  sono  de  Bristo,  gratidi  uuiiiuari.  .  "  Soncinn. 
App.  xiii. 


'!"^«W»WWlW^^-''W 


ins  l.inKKAMTY. 


71 


srreatiief^s  of  their  future  honor,  and  he  in  tlieir  midst  es- 
teemed himself  ii  I'rinee.* 

Htill  in  this  cheap  vanity  tliere  is  a  good  and  beautiful 
.■^ide ;  it  is  to  see  that  his  heart  was  not  shut  up  with  })ride  in 
Hr-  sentiment  of  his  grandeur,  but  gUidly  opened  to  share  his 
happiness  with  other.,. 

One  proof  of  wliat  tlie  new  regions  would  produce  was  the 
discovery  that  the  sea  was  extraordinarily  rich  in  tisli  ;  a  dis- 
covery wiiieh  we  niigiit  Ix;  ahnost  inditferent  to  iu  the  XIX 
teuturvjbut  at  the  time  of  (Jal)ot  was  joyful  news  for  I'hig- 
hiiul,  ix'causo  a  certain  source  of  great  wealth  for  the  nation. 
Ju  those  days  every  Christian  [)(!o[»le  scrupulously  ohserved  the 
roquireinenls  of  the  church  ;  and  in  the  strict  observance  by 
everybody  of  lent  and  the  vigils,  hsli  had  become  a  commod- 
ity ()f  prime  necessity  for  all  Christians.  Iceland  lived  off 
th'\r  commerce,  Norway  and  the  Hallic  shores  saw  no  ships 
but  those  engaged  in  taking  or  conveying  tish.  It  is  easy, 
tiien.  to  understand  how  pleasant  to  EngHsh  ears  was  the 
story  of  the  discoverers,  "that  the  sea  was  full  of  fish  which 
were  caught  not  only  with  nets,  but  also  with  bags,  a  stone  be- 
ing ti'";t  to  the  bag  to  sink  it,"  that  they  would  bring  from  there 
Mch  . quantities  of  tish  that  they  should  no  longer  depend  on 
Iceljuid,  from  which  M'ey  received  a  very  great  trade  of  fish 
wiiicli  wero  called  stock  fish.f 

hut  wJiilst  other.:  from  that  first  sign  of  wealth  drew 
reason  foi-  u;il)oundedly  expanding  their  hopes  in  the  treas- 
ures of  those  region^,  .John  Cabot  from  the  triumph  won  drew 
strength  for  new  contiicts,  desire  for  greater  glory. 

He  had  composed  a  Map  of  the  world  on  a  plane,  and  an- 
fiiiit  r  oTi  a  globe,  and  on  tliese  he  showed  where  he  had 
arrived,  or  rather  where  he  believed  he  had  arrived.  "  Fj-oni 
that    place,"    writes    Soncino,    "he  proposed    to    pass  close 


■1V-.-.I 


*  "IIo  aiicora  parluto  cum  iino  Borgogrioue  coinpagno  di  mess.  Zoanno  clii 
allfniiii  tiUto,  et  vole  toriiarci  perclie  lo  armirante  (die  gia  niesser  Z  )anne  cosi 
se  iiititula)  li  lia  douato  uualsola  ;  ot  ne  ha  donato  una  allia  ad  uii  suo  barhcro 
dacuslione  Geiiovese,  et  intrainlti  se  rcputanno  Conti,  ne  inonsiguor  Lanniraute 
se  stiiiia  manci)  de  priiicipe."  Sonciiu).  App.  xiii. 
I  f  Souciuo,  App.  xiii. 


i 


i 


72 


THE  LIFE  OP  JOHN  CABOT. 


to  land,  further  towards  the  east,  till  he  comes  opposite*  to 
an  island  which  he  calls  Cipango,  situated  in  the  equatoiial 
regions,  where  he  believes  all  the  spices  grow,  and  also  the 
jewels,  and  he  says  that  at  other  times  he  has  been  at  Mecca 
where  the  spices  are  brought  by  caravans  from  distant  coun- 
tries, and  when  he  asked  those  tliat  brought  them  where  they 
grew,  they  said  they  did  not  know,  Itut  that  other  caravans  came 
to  their  country  with  this  merchandise  from  distant  landn,  nnd 
they  said  they  were  brought  to  them  from  other  regions  remoter 
still.  And  he  argues  that  if  the  orientals  tell  the  southerners 
that  these  things  are  brought  to  them  from  afar,  and  so  on 
from  land  to  land,  it  is  necessary,  supposing  the  earth  to  be 
round,  that  the  last  should  get  them  from  the  north  towards 
the  west."*  This  brief  passage  is  all  weknt)W  of  tlie  reasoninti; 
of  John  Cabot  on  his  voyages  and  explorations  ;  and  I  give  it 
in  Honcino's  own  words,  been  use,  as  he  received  the  iniorniii- 
tion  from  Cabot's  own  lips,  they  seem  to  me  in  their  antiq- 
uity like  an  echo  of  the  glorious  Venetian's  voice. 

Whoever  knows  the  story  of  Christopher  Columbus  is  aware 
that  Cipango  was  the  dn  -m  and  the  sigh  of  the  first  discov- 
erers who  reached  the  New  World,  that  noblest  of  islands,  of 
which  it  was  reported  that  it  "abounds  witli  gold,  pearls,  and 
gems,  and  the  temples  and  royal  dwellings  are  roofed  with 
plates  of  gold."t 

I  conclude  this  cliapter  with  the  record  of  the  munificence 
of  Henry  VII  towards  John  Cabot,  who  by  his  discovery  had 
opened  to  the  Kingdom  of  England  a  future  resplendent 
with  the  briglitest  hopes  of  power  and  wealth.  To  this  man 
the  King  of  England  sent  a  present  of  ten  pounds  sterling.  | 
Peschel  tries  to  defend  the  memory  of  that  King  by  sup- 
posing that  the  present  was  not  for  the  discoverer,  but  for  t  lie 
one  who  first  saw  the  land.g  liut  this  kind  supposition  is 
opposed  by  the  fact  that  in  the  same  book  are  entered  other 

*  App.  xiii. 

t  From  the  Letter  nf  P.uil  Toacanelli  to  Cunon  Fernando  Martinez.  See  Tar- 
diicci's  Life  of  ColumhtiH,  Yu\.  i.  p.  58. 
X  "To  hym  tjitit  fouiidethe  new  Isle.  1.  10."  See  App.  x. 
§  Zeitaltei ,  p.  276. 


TJic 


'frv^'V, 


THE  PATENT  OP  1498. 


i  o 


presents  from  the  same  King  to  those  who  sailed  to  places 
.ilroady  discovered  by  Cabot,  or  who  discovered  some  i^iand 
In  tlio  same  latitudes,  and  the  name  of  Cabot  is  nowhere  found 
ill  it.  And  it  does  not  seem  supposable  that  the  King  who 
rocogiiized  in  some  fashion  the  woik  of  others  should  have 
kept  a  close  hand  with  him  'vho  opened  the  path  for  them 

ail. 

but,  whether  because  he  was  poor  enough  to  bo  glad  of  any 
(iflVring,  or  ratlier  because  he  prudently  wished  to  retain  tlie 
Kiujjj's  good  will,  John  Cabot  in  his  speech  magnified  the 
Kaglisli  Sovereign's  generosity  and  regard  ror  him.  * 


h  •■* '  t 


-m 


CHAPTER  VI. 


K.( . 


T7tc  Second  Letters  Patent. — Preparations  for  the  expedition  of 
1498.— Jo/i/i  Catjoi^s  Death. 


i         ■! 


A  GREAT  surprise  now  awaits  us.  The  letters  patent  of 
March  5,  1496,  eontained  many  extensive  rights  and  privi- 
leges not  only  in  favor  of  John  Cabot,  but  of  each  of  his  sons 
.111(1  their  descendants  and  heirs,  with  full  power  to  delegate 
I  heir  authority  to  representatives  without  any  limitation  of 
tune  or  place.  But  now,  on  February  3,  1498,  new  letters 
IKitent  are  issued  granting  all  necessary  authority  to 
-I'ize  in  the  ports  of  England  from  the  ships  that  happened  to 
lie  there,  the  number  required  for  the  expedition  ;  but  tljey 

no  addT-essed  to  John.  The  King  calls  him  his  "well  beloved," 
mentions  the  discovery  he  had  made,  leaves  him  free  to  choose 
iiis  ships  and  crew,  all  the  otticers  of  the  government  owe  as- 

istiume  to  John,  John  can  delegate  liis  authority  to  others, 


*  "  El  m  .  .  altektodannri."  Pasqsialiiin,  App.  xi. 

"Qucstu  Maestd.  .  .li  di  tisHai  boim  provisiune  come  esso  messer  Zoanue  me 
dice."  .  .  .  HoDciuu,  App.  xiii. 


74 


THE  LIFK  OF  JOHN  CAHOT. 


John  is  the  head  of  the  new  cx]  'lition.  Not  the  shrillest 
mention  is  made  of  tlie  sons,  not  the  i<ast  alhision  to  the  jiro- 
vious  patent,  not  a  syUable  that  can  be  construed  as  conlir- 
mation  or  revocation,  of  the  privileges  granted.*  What  is 
the  meaning  of  tliis  ? 

\Vc  are  wholly  in  the  dark. 

The  number  of  ships  for  the  new  expedition  was  fixed  at  six 
of  200  tuns  burden  and  under,  and  could  l)e  taken  in 
any  port  of  England  as  well  as  of  all  other  places  subject  to 
the  English  Crown  ;  and  the  sums  to  be  paid  for  them  wore 
to  be  regulated  by  what  the  government  would  pay  if  it  took 
them  for  its  own  service  on  its  own  account. f  On  this  occa- 
sion no  time  seems  to  have  been  lost,  but  they  went  to  work 
immediately  u^.on  the  issuing  of  the  letters  patent  autbciz- 
Ing  the  taking  of  the  ships,  Avith  much  energy  ;  since  it  ap{)cai? 
from  some?  contril)utions  made  from  the  King's  privy  ]iurso, 
of  which  we  shall  speak  in  the  next  chapter,  that  in  the  fol- 
lowing March  the  preparations  for  the  expedition  were  in  full 
activity. 

Pasqualigo  and  Soncino,  in  their  letters  of  the  previous 
year,  both  tell  us  that  all  prisoners  except  those  for  treason 
went  >o  people  the  new  lands,  and  this  was  proposed,  accord- 
ing lo  Pasqualigo's  words,  by  Cabot  himself. :{;  But  the  letters 
patent  of  Fel)ruary  o,  make  no  mention  of  this  forced  colon- 
ization ;  on  the  contrary  they  say  expressly  that"  the  seid  John 

maye  take  and  receyve  into  the  seid  shippes ...  all  suclio 

maisters,  maryners,  pages,  and  om-  subjects  as  of  their  owen 
free  wills  woll  goo  and  pass  with  hym  ....  to  the  seid  Land  or 
lies.  "  §  But  probably  it  should  be  understood  as  meaniiij; 
that  their  free  will  was  reserved  for  free  citizens,  while  tlie 
malefactors  in  the  public  prisons  were  sent  by  force. 

From  the  time  of  the  grant  of  the  second  patent,  the  name  of 


*  See  App.  xiv.  f  Ibid 

X  Pasqualigo — "Eire.  .  .  .filidatoluUi  i  presonieridatradiforiin  fiioracbe 
vadiino  con  Itii  come  liii  a  ricliiesto  .  .  .  ."App.  xi. 

Soncino— "la  "^.lacsta  prefata.  .  .et  ultra  li  dara  futli  11  malfatori,  et  andarano 
in  quelle  pae.se  ad  fare  una  coloiiia  .  .  ."App.  xiii. 

S  See  App.  xiv. 


• 


THE  PATIONT  OF  1498, 


75 


John  Cabot  completely  disappears  :  and  the  few  notices  which 
lom.ain  of  the  navigations  of  1 4!)8  prepiired  by  hiin,all  present 
Ills  sou  Sebastian  as  its  head.  From  this  all  the  historians  have 
inferred  that  he  was  liindeix'd  from  taking?  command  of  that 
expedition, or  more  [)robably  died  soon  alter  the  grantingofthe 
patent.  Against  this  general  opinion  Desimoni  has  opposed 
the  examination  of  Ayala's  dispatcii,  the  most  extended 
and  detailed  document  concerning  this  expedition  which  has 
coiue  down  to  us,  and  whicii  gives  clearly  the  command  of  the 
expedition  to  the  same  per.son  who  proposed  and  organized  it.* 
In  fact  it  begins  by  referring  to  the  Genoese  discoverer  who  for 
seven  years  has  been  going  in  search  of  the  island  of  Brazil 
and  the  seven  cities;  it  goes  on  to  ,«!ay  that  the  King  has  de- 
termined to  make  the  expedition,  having  had  certain  newa 
that  the  Genoese  liad  really  found  land  the  year  he/ore.  It 
continues  by  relating  how  the  expedition  was  struck  by  a 
fiuiuus  storm  and  one  of  the  ships  turned  back,  but  neverthe- 
less, the  GcnocHC  kept  on  Ims  voyage,  and  t.hat  the  return  of  the 
expedition  was  looked  for  in  Septembor.f  Here  it  is  undeniable 
that  the  command  of  the  expedition  was  assumed  by  the  same 
person  who  had  discovered  land  the  year  before,  and  had  sailed 
over  the  northern  seas  for  the  last  seven  years  in  search  of  new 
islands  and  lands :  consequently  by  John  Cabot.  But  as  after 
the  return  of  the  expetlition  there  is  no  mention  of  John  Cabot, 
hut  only  of  Sebastian,  as  its  head,  we  must  suppose,  accord- 
ing to  Desimoni,  that  John  perished  during  the  expedition, 
not  l)ofV»re.  The  reasoning  of  Desimoni  is  clear  and  convinc- 
inif,  and  therefoi'e  it  seems  to  me  that  we  must  accept  his 
supposition  and  place  John  Cabot's  death  during  the  expedi- 
tion on  tlie  new  battle-field  where  be  was  lighting  to  enlarge 
and  increase  the  fruits  of  his  victory. 

The  fame  of  John  Cabot  is  almost  lost  to  the  memory 
of  posterity,  and  it  is  only  a  few  years  since  that  the  attention 
of  students  has  l)een  agnin  directed  to  him  with  interest  and 
allection.  But  it  may  be  said  that  each  of  those  years  has 


*  Intorno  a  Giovanni  Caboto  Genovcse,  etc— Geneva,  Tipografia  del  It.  Isti- 
liitodoi  Sordomuti,  1881— p.  53. 
t  See  App.xvi. 


'rT'"  ir 


76 


THE  LIFE  OP  JOHN  CABOT. 


t 

shed  additional  splendor  on  his  name  and  merits.  Ho  suf- 
fered from  what  makes  a  fatlier's  greatest  happiness,  tlio 
glory  of  his  son,  Sebastian  Cabot,  who  was  greatest  among  the 
great,  lived  to  the  ripest  old  age,  held  in  two  nations  the 
highest  position  in  the  marine,  drew  the  most  lively  attention 
of  mankind  to  his  name  and  his  work  :  so  tlutt  the  figure  of 
the  father  was  lost  sight  of.  And  as  the  son  not  only  con- 
tinued the  father's  work,  but  was  his  coin})anion  and  co-op- 
erator, mankind  deceived  by  the  splendor  that  radiates  from 
the  name  of  Sebastian  attributed  to  him  likewise  what  was 
the  work  of  his  father.  Two  writers  principally  have  con- 
tributed to  this  mistake,  Peter  Martyr  D'  Anghicra  and  Ginni- 
battista  Kamusio,  who  without  the  least  mention  of  John  as- 
cribe everything  to  Sebastian  ;  and  as  their  writings  had  a 
very  extreme  circulation,  the  error  was  spread  by  them  and 
became  general,  not  even  the  truthful  testimony  of  Hakhiyt 
being  able  to  counteract  the  trumpet  of  the  others,  buried  as 
it  was  in  the  collection  of  his  big  volumes,  hardly  known  liv 
name,  still  less  read,  out  of  England.  But  still  in  tlio 
splendor  of  the  picture  where  the  great  figure  of  Sebastian 
shone  all  alone,  it  was  never  possible  to  eflface  entirely  that  of 
John.  It  appeared  always  low  down  in  the  baekgrouiid 
hardly  distinguishable  in  the  shade,  but  still  ever  visible,  and 
from  there  it  seemed  to  say  :  "And  I  then  ?" 

The  American,  Richard  Biddle,  the  first  to  give  to  history 
a  profoundly  thought-out  book  on  Sebastian  Cabot,  wished 
to  blot  out  completely  the  rest  of  that  figure  which  ap- 
peared in  the  background  of  the  picture,  and  concentrates  the 
spectator's  wliole  attention  on  the  figure  of  Sebastian,  spark- 
ling in  the  richness  of  the  coloring  and  drawing.  But  his  ef- 
forts were  i(ll(>,  for  the  more  he  labored  to  persuade  the  be- 
holder that  the  figure  of  Sebastian  rose  all  alone  by  itself  and 
had  no  support  from  another  figure,  no  relation  with  it,  the 
more  the  eye  felt  drawn  to  the  mysterious  figure  there  in  tlic 
background  of  the  picture,  and  to  the  ear  came  more  sensibly 
distinct  his  question  :     "And  I  then  ?" 

In  these  last  years  the  truth  has  finally  triumphed,  ami 
the  documents  discovered,  though  few  in  nundjei-  yet  suf- 


» <w  "'%Mm 


r.  i 


THE  IIONOU  DUK  TO  JOHN  CABOT. 


77 


fic'icnt  for  the  purpose,  have  restored  to  John  the  light  that 
was  due  him,  and  drawn  his  liguro  out  of  the  shade  and 
plrtced  it  in  full  view.  If  the  love  of  my  subject  does  not 
veil  mv  judgment,  it  seems  to  me  that  one  of  the  very  first 
places  in  the  history  of  discoveries  belongs  to  John  Cabot. 
For  without  any  impulse  or  guidance  from  others,  by  the 
mere  force  of  his  will  and  strength  of  his  enthusiasm,  ho 
raised  himself  above  the  common  herd  of  navigators  for  com- 
merce and  wealth,  and  launched  out  into  the  fearful  soli- 
tudes of  northern  oceans,  panting  after  discovery  ;  and  the 
failure  of  a  first,  a  second,  a  third  attempt  does  not  lessen  his 
ardor  or  weaken  his  resolve  •  ho  returns  to  the  attack  .  .  . 
and  he  wins.  True,  he  has  his  son  Sebastian  for  a  companion 
in  his  victory,  but  the  son  was  not  yet  twenty  year^  old,  and 
at  tliat  age,  however  great  his  genius  and  his  skill  in  the 
sciences  relating  to  navigation,  he  could  give  but  little  aid  to 
lii.s  fatlier's  vigorous  strength.  And  if  the  work  of  the 
younger  in  later  voyages  was  very  efficient,  it  is  still  John 
tliat  led  the  victorious  band  ;  to  him  alone  is  the  discovery 
of  1497  ascribed  in  public  and  private  documents,  and  it  is 
his  name  alone  that  resounds  in  the  shouts  and  huzzas  of  the 
Knirlish  nation.  If  the  expedition  of  1498  was  led  by  the 
son,  il  was  still  unquestionably  prepared,  seL  forward,  and 
for  a  time  conducted  by  the  father.  Not  then  in  the  second 
rank,  still  less  lower,  is  the  place  that  belongs  to  John  Cabot 
in  the  glorious  phalanx  of  discoverers,  but  he  must  be  hailed 
among  the  highest,  very  near  the  supreme  chief  that  led  them 
all,  Cliristopher  Columbus. 


M  .! .    d 


•^U 


:      I 


7S 


Till':  Lll'K  OF  hEliASTlAN  CAIJOT. 


CHAPTER    VII. 


Schadian  Cahot 


ii-' 


m 


ii 


■ 


To  llio  post  of  Joliii  ( '!il)ot  ill  coinnumd  of  tlio  fleet  snccciMUd 
his  son  iSc'l)iistiau.  The  fact  is  uiujucstioiu'd,  hut  nowlieic  is 
there  the  leiist  iii(Ueution  wliei-e  aud  how  this  happened.' 
If  the  letters  patent  of  Mareh  5,  1400,  mention  the  sons  of 
John  in  the  order  of  a^e,  as  is  Hkely,  Sel>astian  would  l)e  liii 
seeond.f  Tiiere  is  no  truce  anywliere  of  the  other  two  or  of 
their  niotlier,  who  was  still  livin<:^  when  Jolni's  discovoiy 
created  sueh  rejoicing  in  En,t!:land.:[ 

From  the  confined  (.-icle  in  which  we  have  till  now  tuiiied 
so  uncomlbrtaltly  we  pass  at  present  into  a  Held  of  vast  extent; 
but  the  thick  tbii;  which  has  all  along  obscured  this  short  piitli 
we  had  to  follow,  unfortunately  does  not  leave  us,  and  the  little 
light  which  here  and  there  breaks  through,  although  sullicicnt 
to  show  how  broad  the  lield  before  us  and  what  a  giant  w.is 
laboring  in  it,  is  too  little  to  enable  us  to  sec  his  work  and  tlio 
gratitutle  that  posterity  owes  to  bis  genius  and  energy. 

We  must  lament  this  want  of  light  at  the  fir.st  step  we  t;ikc 
in  this  story  as  in  tiiat  of  his  father  Joiin ;  for  the  same  question 
is  discussed  concerning  hini, — whence  came  he?  and  where  was 


*  GaflFavel  snys  tliiit :  Tlio  Letters  Patent  provided  for  llie  case  of  John's 
death  uiid  Sebiislian's  succession  to  tlie  command.  "P.iv  lionlieur  le.s  ieltrcs 
patenfe.s  avaictit  previi  Ic  cas,  ct  son  fils  Sebasticn  en  qualite  de  lepreseulant 
dumeut  autorise,  put,  malirre  .<a  iennesse,  prendre  le  comniandenienl  de  1 
escadre."  J/iffoire  (fe  la  dmmrerte  de  V  Amerique,  Paris,  1892.  T.  ii.  p.  293.  ^ 

But  this  is  not  correct:  the  letters  patent  maks  uo  allusion  to  this  case.  Sec 
Aiip.  V. 

t  Dilectis  nobis  Joanni  Cabolto  civi  vcnetiarum  ac  Ludovico,  Sebastiano  i\. 
Saucto  filiis  dicti  Joannis App.  v. 

t  ".  .  .  e  con  so  moier  venitiana  c  con  so  fioli  a  Bristo."  Pasqualigo  App.  xi.  ix. 


lUHTII-l'LAf'K  OK  SKllASTIAX. 


70 


hcliorii?  I'lu'  Italians  iniiko  out  that  he  waHboni  at  Venicu;  tho 
Kiij,'lisliil  >i'n  liis birth  for  Bristol.  In  (sxaminin;^  thi3(|UC9titm, 
I  l>olievo  wo  should  sot  aside  all  writ«!rs,  however  celebrated,  of 
later  date  who  hold  to  either  .''ide,  lor  th(!  liuu<lle  of  their 
iianu's  .seouis  to  uie  a  load  encund)eriug  free  ju<lguie)it;  and  1 
Ink.'  onlv  old  authors  who  Ixinii:  either  eontemporary  with 
Si'hiistian,  or  very  nearly  so,  may  furnish  us  authority  of  some 

wci^lil. 

Ill  is  made  out  to  bo  English  by  Uiehard  Eden,  who  kiu'w 
hiiii  persoiuilly,  was  his  frieiul,  nnd  was  present  at  his  dealh- 
licd,*  liy  the  I'jpitonie  of  ChraiiidtK,  already  niontioned;  and  by 
tlio  chroniclers  Grafton,  Ilolinshed,  and  Stow,  who  follow  the 
Epilouie '\  Ilakhiyt,  who  published  in  1582  his  eolleetioii  of 
tliv' yovnjTos  and  discoveries  of  the  lOnnlish  in  Amerii-a;;];  and 
iliTt'crii,  the  historian  of  the  Spnnish  aebievi-ments  in  the  Xfw 
World,  who  composed  his  history  in  the  last  years  of  the  W\ 
ti'iitury  and  must  have  conversi'd  oI'Iimi  and  lons^Mtn  the  facts 
with  Sebastian  when  he  was  in  the  .S})anish  service.§ 

On  the  othitr  side,  for  \''(  iii<!e,  are  Peter  Martyr  D' 
Aiii,f|iiora,  who  published  his  dec'es  under  Sebastian's  eyes, 
was  his  friend,  and  had  him  as  ins  jj^uest  in  his  house  ;|| 
(raspare  C'ontarini,  Venetian  aml)assador  in  Si)ain,who  knew 
liiia  personally  and  had    conversations    with    him    on    the 


*  IIi8  words  will  be  given  u  little  fintiuT  en. 

f  All  have  "an  Englislio  iiuui,  borne  ;ii  IJiisto,  btit  was  the  Sonne  of  a  Gene- 
w;iy. '   See  ch.  i. 

\  "  til  tlie  Unie  of  .  .  Henry  VII,  Letters  Patent  were  ....  graunted 
tdJoliii  Caboto,  au  Italiau  .  .  .  to  discover  remote  .  ..  country,  whieii  di- 
scovert was  afterwards  execnted  .  .  .  by  Sebastian  and  Saneius  hi.s  son,  wlio 
were  111 iru  in  England."  Vol.  iii.  p.  Ifi. 

The  name  of  Saneius,  wldeli  IlaUlnyt  bore  joins  with  Sebastian's, is  found  in 
ii'i  document,  so  that  it  must  bi;  supposed  tbnt  the  name  diop|>cd  from  llaiduyt's 
peu  from  want  of  attention,  or  else  tliiit  Seliastian'.s  brother  Saneius  was  a- 
socialed  with  liim  in  the  beginning  and  for  some  reason  or  other  afterwards 
irased  to  as.sist  him. 

S  "Esle  desseo  .  .  movio  el  Rev  a  traer  a  sti  servicio  Sebastian  Gaboto 
ln:;k's  ...'•_  Hist.  jron.  de  los  Castellanos "  —  Dec.  i.  lib.  i.\. 

''ip.  i;;, 

"''^ciutatus  est  eas  Sebastlanus  quidam  Cabotus  genere  Veuetus  ,  .  .   Fa 
'"''iinem  habeo  domi  Cabotum  ipsuinet  coulubernalem  interdum. . ..  "  A  pp. 

xviii. 


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80 


THE  LIFE  OF  SEBASTIAN  CABOT. 


most  subtile  matters.*  Andrea  Navagero  who  succeeded 
Contarini  in  office,  July  21,  1524.  while  Sebastian  Cabot  was 
alive  and  present  ;t  Francisco  Lopez  de  Goinara,  who  jmi). 
lished  his  general  history  of  the  Indies  in  Spain  hardly  four 
years  after  Sebastian's  departure,  and  whose  rank  and  the 
character  of  whose  studies  allow  us  no  doubt  that  he  knew  and 
conversed  with  one  who  was  the  highest  authority  in  tliat 
marine,  the  glorious  deeds  of  which  he  was  engaged  in  re- 
lating ;:}:  finally  Girolamo  Ramusio  and  the  testimony  of 
an  anonymous  writer  who  had  detailed  information  on  his 
life  and  voyages  from  Cabot  himself  and  on  his  authority,  for, 
if  ho  was  not  personally  acquainted  with  Sebastian,  he 
nevertheless  had  epistolary  correspondence  with  him  on  tlie 
subject  of  discoveries.§ 

To  these  should  be  added  wiih  special  notice  Francis  Bacon, 
born  a  little  after  Cabot's  death,  because  his  testimony  ac- 
quires a  special  value  from  the  recognized  weight  of  liis 
opinion,  and  because  he  was  himself  an  Englishman,!  Let 
us  now  look  at  these  testimonies  separately  and  weigh  tlieir 
value.  That  of  the  Epitomie  of  Chromclea  is  taken  from  the 
place,  already  extracted,  where  speaking  of  Sir  Hugh  AVil- 


*  His  words  will  be  given  with  Eden's  further  on. 

}".  .  .  Un'  altra  armata  .  .  .  partirii  .  .  ,  della  quale  6  capitauo  uii  Se- 
bastian Caboito  Venetiano." — App.  xxxii. 

t  "Qui  en  mas  noticia  traxo  desta  tierra  fue  Sebastian  Gaboto  Veneciiiuo. "- 
App.  xxi. 

iii  Anonimo  :— "Nop  sapete  a  que.sto  proposito  .  .  .  quel  che  fece  gin  uu 
vostro  cittaiiino  Veneziaiio"  v.  App  xix. 

Ramusio  :  —  "...  come  mi  fu  scrltto  .  .  .  dal  Sig.  Sebasl'un  Gabolto  no- 
stro  Vinitiano," 

From  the  dedicatory  letter  to  the  celebrated  Fracastnro  preiixed  to  the  tliiid 
volume  of  his  great  collection.  I  omit  from  these  names  tliut  of  tlit  PorlUL'iRse 
historian  Antonio  Galvio  who  w:<!te  his  Trntado  a  few  years  after  Selm.stiuii's 
death  (1563),  because  as  personally  a  stranger  to  Sebastian,  in  tlie  place  wlieii; 
he  lived,  he  naturally  could  speak  of  him  only  on  the  credit  of  others.  His 
words  are  : 

"No  anno  de  1496  achandosehum  Venczenno  pernome  Sebastiano  Cabolo 
..."  App.  xxii. 

\  "There  was  one  Sebastian  Oahoio,  a  Venetian,  dwelling  in  Bristol,  a  niim 
seen  and  expert  in  cosmography  and  navigation."  FllANC.  Bacoh's  JJistoryof 
King  Uenry  VIJ,  p.  88,  London  1778, 


BIRTH-PLACE  OF  SEBASTIAN. 


81 


loughby's  expedition,  it  is  said  that  it  was  promoted  by  Sebas- 
tian Cabot,  son  of  a  Genoese,  but  born  at  Bristol.  Treating  at 
that  tiaie  of  the  birthplace  of  John  Cabot,  we  made  a  long 
,iiul  careful  examination  of  these  word'?,  and  we  saw,  and  felt 
with  our  hands  that  they  are  an  interpolation  of  Crowley's 
uuule  from  caprice  and  without  the  support  of  any  doc- 
ument. Consequently  the  authority  of  the  Epitome  of  Oironiclcs 
iiULst  be  rejected  now  in  Sebastian's  case  for  the  same  reason 
as  before  in  his  father's.  We  saw  then  also  and  felt  that  the 
chroniclers  Grafton,  Holinshed  and  Stow  had  simply  copied 
the  notice  in  the  Epitovie,  and  consequently  the  rejection  of 
the  authority  of  the  Epitome  necessarily  involves  the  rcjec- 
tiun  of  all  based  on  it. 

Ilakluyt's  authority  is  great,  and  so  is  that  of  Herrera  ; 
they  both  searched  the  old  records  with  zeal,  conscientiousness, 
and  judgment ;  the  one  to  reproduce  them  as  they  were,  the 
other  to  compose  from  them  his  history.  But  precisely  be- 
cause, being  some  years  subsequent  to  Cabot's  death,  they  had 
to  rely  for  their  assertions  on  those  old  records,  all  the  value 
of  their  authority  rests  on  these.  And  as  there  are  only  the 
authors  cited  above  that  make  Sebastian  Cabot  born  at  Bristol; 
excluding  the  chroniclers  and  Stow,  the  whole  weight  of  the 
assertion  is  left  to  )'est  on  Richard  Eden's  word. 

The  witnesses  testifying  in  favor  of  Venice  are  all  contem- 
poraries and  personal  acquaintances,  or  at  least  correspondents 
of  Sebastian  Cabot.  Yet,  to  bo  more  scrupulously  exact,  let 
us  exclude  from  these  also  all  who  are  unable  to  give  ns  a 
solid  basis  for  their  authority.  Let  us  leave  out  Andrea  Na- 
vagero,  although  as  Venetian  ambassador  to  Spain  when 
Sebastian  Cabot  was  chief  pilot  of  that  Kingdom,  everything 
leads  us  to  believe  that  he  must  have  had  occasion  to  talk 
with  him,  at  court  or  elsewhere  ;  but,  as  we  have  no  sure  evi- 
dence of  their  having  met,  let  us  exclude  him. 

Let  us  leave  out  Girolamo  Ramusio,  because,  although  ho 

was  in  epistolary  correspondence  with   Sebastian    Cabot,  the 

j^'reat  distance  which  parted  them  may  lead  us  reasonably  to 

t-uspecit  that  his  knowledge  of  Cabot's  life  did  not  extend  be- 

:  yond  his  great  achievements  of  voyage  and  discovery.      The 

6 


t  Hvi 


II  • 


1  '  \ 


1 

''1' 

m 

'  '\' 

82 


THE  LIFE  OF  SEBASTIAN  CAJJOT. 


u 


•i  *    :         ^ 


rii'ii 


.  ■ 

m 

Mi 

anoiiyiaous  writer,  whose  account  he  reports,  might  ho  valid 
authority,  because  he  visited  Cabot,  talked  with  him,  quos- 
tioned  him  about  his  voyages,  and  since  they  were  both  Vene- 
tians, it  seems  more  thaxi  likely  that  their  conversation  imist 
have  brought  up  the  subject  of  his  native  country.  But  iis  wo 
cannot  bo  sure  of  it,  but  only  argue  from  probability,  let  us 
put  him  also  aside. 

Gomara  wrote  a  general  history  of  the  Indies,  and  the  sub- 
ject led  him  to  speak  very  often  of  Spanish  navigations  ;  and 
in  such  position  it  seems  not  only  unlikely,  but  impossil)]etlmt 
he  should  have  had  no  relations  with  Sebastian  Cabot,  who 
held  the  first  place  in  the  Spanish  Marine.  Still  his  relations 
v'ith  him  might  very  well  have  been  confined  to  the  matter  of 
which  he  was  treating  in  his  history,  without  going  into  de- 
tails of  the  Chief  Pilot's  life  :  let  us  therefore,  put  him  tim 
aside.  In  this  way  we  narrow  the  whole  dispute  to  Peter  Mar- 
tyr and  Contarini  for   "\''enice,  and  Richard  Eden  for  Bristol. 

Eden,  in  the  margin  of  his  translation  of  the  Decades  of 
Peter  Martyr  de  Anghiera,  writes  these  words  :  "Sel)astian 
Cabote  tould  me  that  he  was  borne  in  Brystowe,  and  tli;it 
at  iiii  yeare  ould  he  was  carried  with  his  father  to  Venice,  and 
so  returned  agayne  into  England  with  his  father  after  cer- 
tayne  years,  whereby  he  was  thought  to  have  been  borne  in 
Venice."* 

This  evidence  is  positive,  and  seems  as  if  it  ought  to  put  an 
end  to  the  dispute.  But,  lo  !  the  Venetian  ambassador  Gaspare 
Contarini  in  a  letter  to  the  council  of  Ten  written  just  after  a 
conversation  he  had  with  Sebastian,  writes  that  Sebastian  him- 
self said  to  him  :  "  Sir  Ambassador,  to  tell  you  the  whole,  I 
was  born  in  Venice,  but  brought  up  in  England,  "f 

Which  of  the  two  are  we  to  credit  ?  which  of  the  two  was 
niistaken  ?  Certainly  Contarini  was  not  mistaken,  for  lio 
wrote  right  after  his  conversation  with  Sebastian,  and  the 
whole  purport  of  the  letter  he  is  writing  to  the  council  of 


*  The  Decades  of  the  New  Worlde,  London  1555  f .  255. 
t  Signor  ambasciatore,  per  dirle  il  luto,  io  naqui  a  Veuutia,  lUii  sum  niitiitS 
en  Ingclterra.  See  App.  xxvi. 


'i'i    ''M 


eden's  testimony. 


83 


Ten  has  for  its  starting-point  the  fact  thet  Sebastian  Cabot 
was  horn  at  Venice.  Perhaps  some  one  may  object  that  Sebas- 
tian Cabot  at  that  time  had  great  need  of  the  Venetian  Re- 
public, as  we  shall  see  further  on  ;  and  therefore  it  is  not  out 
of  place  to  suspect  that  he  was  carried  so  far  by  the  necessity 
of  the  case  as  to  say  what  was  not  true.  But  this  objection 
is  soon  dispelled.  The  same  assertion  which  Cabot  made  to 
the  ambassador  Oontarini  in  Spain,  he  had  previously  made 
at  Venice  itself  through  one  whom  he  sent  to  the  council  of 
Ten.*  Can  it  be  supposed  that  a  man  arrived  at  the  very 
high  rank  which  Cabot  had  attained  to,  earnest,  serious, 
considerate  in  every  t  n'  ,,  as  he  was,  would  hazard  so  explicit 
and  absolute  a  declaration  "I  was  born  at  Venice,"  with- 
out being  certain  of  the  fact,  without  being  able  to  prove 
clearly  and  unquestionably,  if  need  were,  the  truth  of  what  he 
was  saying,  considering  that  the  application  he  was  making 
to  the  Venetian  Senate  was  entirely  founded  on  the  fact  that 
kc  had  been  born  at  Venice  ?  But  let  us  for  a  moment  accept 
this  supposition  and .  set  aside  even  his  own  testimony  as 
being  suspicious.  No  sort  of  suspicion  can  attach  to  the 
iiistorian  Peter  Martyr  d'  Anghiera,  who  not  only  says 
that  Sebastian  was  born  in  Venice,  but  that  he  was  taken 
from  there,  and  tells  us  why.  And  he  could  not  have  got 
tiiis  information  from  Contarini,  for  the  Decade  where  he 
speaks  of  it  was  published  seven  years  before  the  conversation 
between  Contarini  and  ^abot  took  place,  f  His  evidence  is  the 
same  as  though  it  caux  directly  from  the  lips  of  Sebastian 
himself,  for  Peter  Martyr  was  his  friend,  his  companion 
at  court,  had  him  as  a  guest  in  his  house,  and  published  this 
Decade  of  his  precisely  during  the  period  of  that  hospitality; 
indeed,  in  his  account  he  joins  the  information  concern- 
ing Cabot  with  the  fact  that  he  has  Cabot  a  guest  in  his 


1 
i. 


] ,, 


1^:! 


*  "  Disse  esser  sta  mandnto  per  uno  Sebastian  Cabotto,  che  dire  P8ser  di 
questa  citta  nostra  ..."  Letter  of  Ihe  council  of  Ten,  S6i>tembtr  23,  1522. 

f  The  Decade  was  publislied  in  1516,  and  the  convereatioj  with  Contarini 
occurred  towards  tlie  end  of  1523. 


84 


THE  LIFE  OF  SEBASTIAN  CABOT. 


111 


■r 


4 


m 


house.*  Thus  it  is  clear,  natural,  undoubtable  that  he  had  his 
information  from  Sebastian's  own  mouth ;  for  it  cannot 
be  supposed  that  with  such  opportunity  as  he  had  of  leaniinj^ 
the  truth  from  the  very  lips  of  one  who  was  at  his  side,  at  his 
table,  at  his  conversation,  he,  an  historian,  would  fail  to 
question  him  and  learn  the  truth  from  him.  Sebastian  at  that 
time  had  no  need  of  Venice,  whicli  might  cast  suspicion  on  his 
word,  but  was  on  the  point  of  hastening  to  a  fresh  triuinpliof 
his  navigations  with  the  money  and  aid  of  Spain,  f  and  An- 
ghiera  was  writing  the  story  of  Spanish  discovery.  There  was 
therefore  no  reason,  direct  or  indirect,  for  Cabot  untrutlifully 
to  place  his  birth  in  Venice. 

Therefore  his  repeated  declaration  at  different  times,  to 
different  persons,  under  dillerent  circumstances,  with  niany 
years  interval  between  them,  must  be  held  conformed  in 
every  thing  and  throughout  to  the  truth. 

But  then  did  Eden  lie  ?  Avezac  has  shown  by  many  proofs 
that  Eden  with  great  dexterity  makes  history  say  whatever  lie 
thinks  or  chooses  it  should  say,  and  if  he  showed  no  scruple  in 
this  freedom,  there  was  still  less  good  critical  sense.  Translat- 
ing for  example,  the  first  three  Decades  of  Peter  Martyr  d' 
Anghiera,  he  came  to  a  place  where  the  historian  calls  S(!bas- 
tain  Cabot  "his  concurialis,"  which  means  "who  is  with  lue 
here  at  the  court:"  Eden,  knowing  that  Peter  Martyr  was  a 
member  of  the  Supreme  Council  of  the  Indies,  translated  it 
that  Cabot  was  also  a  member  of  that  high  board,  whereas 
we  have  in  Herrera  the  list  of  all  the  tnemhers  of  that  council, 
and  Sebastian  Cabot's  name  is  not  among  them.;}:  But  this 
might  have  been  an  oversight  in  translating  :  it  is  real 
audacity  for  him  to  give  the  name  and  surname  of  the  anony- 
mous writer  in  Ramusio.    Ramusio  (and  we  shall  speak  of  it 


*  "PamiliarTn  liabeo  domi  Cabotiim  ipsum  ot  contubernalem  inferdum  .... 
concurialis  uoster  est,  expeotatqin!  in  dies  ut  navigia  siin  parentur  .... 
Martio  menseanni  fiituri  MDXVI  puto  ad  explorandum  discessurum."  See 
App.  xviii. 

t  See  precedinir  note. 

X  Revue  Gritique  d'  Ilistoire  et  (k  LitUrature.  Premier  Semestf,  1870.  PP' 
365—266. 


r- 


eden's  testimony, 


85 


at  greater  length  further  on)  places  in  his  collection  "  a  great 
find  admirable  discourse  ...  of  a  gentleman,  a  very  great 
i)liilos()])her  and  raatheniatican  ....  whose  name  out  of  respect 
jgnot  given  . .  "*Eden  translated  this  discourse  and  coming  to 
this  passage,  instead  of  respecting  the  author's  secret,  thought 
it  best  to  satisfy  the  reader's  curiosity  by  revealing  the  name, 
siirnanie,  and  country  ot  the  anonymous  narrator,  and  made 
it  known  that  he  was  the  Bologneso  Galeazzo  Bottrigari,  Pope's 
nuncio  in  Spain.  Where  did  ho  get  this  information  ?  lie 
does  not  say.  On  what  proof  is  it  based  ?  He  does  not  tell. 
But  the  beauty  of  it  is  that  when  the  anonymous  speaker 
made  the  discourse  Bottrigari  had  been  sleei)ing  for  thirty 
yenrsin  bis  grave. f 

After  that,  what  reliance  can  bo  had  on  the  word  of  one 
whoso  easily  makes  assertions  openly  contradicting  the  truth  ? 

However,  there  is  a  way  of  explaining  the  opposing 
testimony  of  Eden  without  olTence  to  his  memory,  by  sup- 
posing him  to  have  been  the  victim  of  a  misunderstanding. 
Even  Avezac,  for  a  moment,  advances  this  supposition.  I 
say  "  for  a  moment,  "  because  he  hardly  hints  a  suspicion  of 
tliis  misunderstanding,  before  he  repeats  more  vehemently 
than  before  his  charge  of  falsehood  against  Eden.  ;{:  We  may 
then  supp)Ose  that  Eden  had  the  correct  information  from 
Cabot  as  to  his  native  land,  as  it  had  already  been  given  to 
Peter  Martyr  and  Contarini  ;  but  from  lack  of  attention  or 
other  cause  he  misunderstood  his  words?  and  gave  them  a 


*  "Un  grande  et  ammirabile  ragioiiamcnto  .  .  .  .  (H  un  gentil'  huomo, 
crandissimo  philosopho  et  niiilliematico,  .  •  .  il  aomc  del  quale  per  suoi 
rispetti  noa  si  dice.  .  .  "  See  App.  xix. 

t  Galeazzo  Bottrigari,  Papal  Nuncio  to  Ferdinand,  King  of  Spain,  died  in 
Biijiigna,  his  native  country,  in  1518,  and  was  buried  in  a  sarcophagus  in  the 
cliurcli  of  St.  Francis.  Afterwards  the  sarcophagus  was  transferred  to  the 
Caiiiiiir,ian  CRmetery  wliere  it  is  siill  to  be  seen. 

t"  Nous  croyons  raiSDnnaole  de  soupgonner  un  qui  pro  quo  dans  I'esprit 
aventureux  du  compilateur,  t,  qui  probablenient  Cabot  avail  dit  eu  realite, 
comnie  fi  tous  les  autres,  qu'il  etait  ne  &  Venise,  et  avnit  6t6,  dfis  son  jeune 
uge(qiiattre  aus  expressement  cctte  fois),  ainene  il  Bristol  par  son  pdre"— a  little 
after  he  gives  Eden  a  worse  dose,  and  says  "il  n'y  aura  qu'une  falsification 
fantaisiste  de  plus  a  porter  au  compie  de  Kichard  Eden,  coutumier  du  fait.'' 
p.  266-267. 


'  J 


i 


86 


THE  LIFE  OP  SEBASTIAN  CABOT. 


meaning  quite  opposite  to  the  true.  Let  us  compare  the 
words  of  Eden  with  those  of  Peter  Martyr  and  we  shall  soo 
that  this  supposition  is  well  founded.  Peter  Martyr  .says: 
"Sebastian  Oabot  was  by  birtli  a  Venetian  but  taken  by  his 
parents  to  Enghuid  wliilst  almost  an  infant."*  And  Eden ; 
"  Sebastian  C'abot  was  born  at  Bristol,  but  at  the  age  of  four 
years  was  taken  to  Venice."  Substitute  Venice  and  Bristol  tor 
each  other  and  the  two  accounts  agree.  Another  thing  to  hi' 
observed  is,  that  when  Peter  Martyr  mentions  the  carryiiiir  of 
Sebastian  fn»in  Venice  to  England  in  his  infancy,  he  gives, 
although  parenthetically,  as  the  reason  of  his  being  taken 
there  so  young,  the  custom  of  the  Venetians  of  living  in  ;iiiy 
part  of  the  world  for  the  sake  of  cominorce  Eden  does  not 
take  the  trouble  to  tell  us  why  .John  Cabot  took  his  little  child 
of  four  years  of  age  on  so  long  a  journey  as  that  irom 
England  to  Venice,  but  is  careful  to  inform  us  that  Sebas- 
tian Cabot  was  supposed  to  be  a  Venetian  in  conse- 
quence of  tliat  journey.  The  parenthesis  inserted  by  Peter 
Martyr  is  Incorporated  with  the  substance  itself  of  the  story. 
Eden's  added  fact  barely  hangs  on  it  by  a  thread,  -jul  'dis- 
closes his  desire  to  give  authority  for  believing  what  was 
merely  a  vague  report,  but  which  he  was  anxious  to  have 
thought  true.  We  may  add  that  the  information  furnished  by 
Eden  contradicts  good  sense.  Suppose  John  Cabot  had  taken 
his  boy  at  that  tender  age  to  Venice,  and  brought  him  had 
"after  certayne<jy^ears."Tlie  expression,  certain  years,  does  not 
mean  three  or  four,  but  fit  least  extends  to  eight  or  ten  ;  and 
the  child  would  then  be  twelve  or  fourteen  years  of  age, 
about  to  reach,  if  he  had  not  already  reached  the  aji;e  at 
which  parents  sent  their  children  to  study  at  Venice.  Would 
John  Cabot  have  taken  his  away  from  there  at  that  time'.' 
Strangers  felt  need  of  the  schools  of  Venice  at  that  age, 
but  John  Cabot,  who  already  had  the  use  of  them,  would 
have  removed  his  child  ?  Sebastian  turned  out  one  of  the  fir.*t 


*"Sebaslianu8  Ciibotus  geneie  Venttus,  sed  a  parenlibus  in  Britauniam  ten 
dentibus  (iiti  mos  est  Yeiietoniin  qui  comraeicii  causa  terrarum  omnium  suQt 
bospites)  tiansportatus  pceaeinfaas."  App.  xviii. 


Ill 


HARRISSE'S  ARGUNfKN'T. 


87 


men  of  his  age  in  the  sciences  which  relate  to  navigation  ; 
where  did  he  learn  these  sciences  ?  Not  in  England,  for 
there  were  no  suitable  Hchools  there.  Where  then  V  !Sub- 
slituie,  as  we  said,  Bristol  and  Venice  one  for  the  other  in 
Eden's  story,  and  all  runs  smooth.  With  not  another  syllable 
changed  it  will  be  "  Sebastian  Cabot  was  born  in  Venice 
wiience  at  the  age  of  four  years  he  was  taken  to  Bristol  ; 
and  from  there  after  certain  years  he  returned  again  to  Ven- 
ice." Wiiy  did  he  return  to  Venice  ?  To  make  his  studies.  In 
tliis  way  the  reason  of  every  thing  is  clear. 

This  reasoning,  in  my  opinion  is  more  than  sufficient  to 
win  the  cause  for  \'enice.  But  Ilarrisse  hns  given  another  ar- 
ffuniont  drawn  from  the  English  laws,  which  I  present  here- 
with in  the  learned  American's  own  words.*  The  petition  to 
Henry  VII  in  149G  is  in  the  name  of  John  Cabot  and  Lewis, 
8el)astian,  and  Sancius,  his  sons  ;  and  John  does  not  appear 
as  the  guardian  of  his  sons;  but  they  figure  in  their  own  full 
personal  capacit}'.  So  also  the  letters  patent  of  March  5, 1496, 
lecogni/e  the  individual  and  distinct  character  of  each  of  the 
four  patentees;  and  the  grant  is  not  to  them  jointly,  but  separ- 
ately to  each  of  them  and  his  heirs  and  representatives  :  "  to 
our  well-beloved  Jolin  Cabot  citizen  of  Venice  and  to  Lewis, 
to  Sebastian,  and  to  Sancius,  sons  of  the  said  John,  and  to  their 
and  each  of  their  heirs  and  deputies,  "f 

The  way  in  Avliich  the  letters  patent  are  expressed  evidently 
supposes  each  of  the  grantees  to  have  attained  to  his  majority. 
Be.-iides  this,  they  specify  or  imply  grants  w'hich  by  the  Eng- 
hsh  law  can  only  be  enjoyed  by  those  of  age,  as  for  instance, 
to  make  contracts,  to  appoint  commissioners,  to  take  charge 
of  lands,  to  administer  law,  to  grant  licenses.;}:  It  cannot  be  said 
that  Henry  VII  by  his  royal  authority  created  in  favor 
of  tiie  minor  sons  of  John  Cabot  a  civil  capacity  in  violation 
of  the  common  law,  for  only  Parliament  had  that  power,  and 
any  thing  in  letters  patent  issued  by  the  sovereign  in  contra- 
vention of  that  common  law  would  be  null  and  void.§ 

*  Jean  et  Sebastic-n  Cabot,  p.  39,  40.  ,  .  , 

f  Eortira  ac  ciijiislibct  oorutn  haeredibus  et  deputatis.  See  App.  v. 
I  Bl(wkstone's  commentaries,  New  Yoik,  1851.  vol.i.  Book  i.  c.  xvii.  3.  P.  386. 
S  lb.  Book  ii.  cb.  xxl.  vol.  i.  np.  280,  281. 


•   '  -if  ■ 


•iJ 


88 


TIIK  LIFE  OP  SKIJAHTIAK  (AnoT. 


;i'i:   ■ 


John  Cabot's  tliroc  sons  liiul  then  reached  tlieir  majority  in 
14!)(),  which  accordinif  to  th(>  hiw  of  lMi<rhin(l  wms  fixed  at  Iwcn. 
ty-one  years,  until  which  time  they  ure  luuh'r  ^'uanHanslii]).' 

Therefore,  Sebastian  Cabot  on  ^hirdi  f),  l-lDf)  must  !:;ivc 
been  twenty-two  year^  old  at  least,  for  his  younger  broUiw 
Sancius  must  have  completed  ins  twenty-tirst  year  ;  con- 
sequently, he  must  have  bqen  born  before  Ahu-ch  5, 1474.  IJut 
John  Cabot's  letters  of  naturalization  issued  by  the  Venetian 
Senate  ATarch  2S,  147(i.say  tinit  for  fifteen  years  he  had  liiida 
permanent  residence  in  Venice.f  Therefore  Sebastian  wIki 
was  at  least  two  years  old  at  that  date  must  have  been  Ixirn 
ot  Venice. 

Now  let  us  resume  our  way. 

After  the  general  mention  by  Ayala  that  John  Cabot  had 
sailed  every  year  from  14!)1  with  the  men  of  Bristol  inseaich 
of  the  islands  of  Brazil  and  of  the  Seven  Cities,  the  next  no- 
tice we  find  of  him  is  in  the  anonymous  narrative  inscrfci! 
in  Ramusio's  collection.  This  relates  that  Sebastian  Cabot,  how 
of  John,  had  said  that  "when  his  father  left  Venice  many 
years  before  and  went  to  live  in  England,  he  took  him  with 
him  to  the  city  of  London,  that  he  was  very  young,  yet  not  so 
young  but  what  he  had  learned  humanities  and  the  Sphere. 

"My  father  died  at  the  time  that  news  came  that  Senor  Don 
Christopher  Columbus  had  discovered  the  coasts  of  the  Indies 
and  it  was  much  talked  of  in  all  the  court  of  King  Henry  VII. 
who  was  then  reigning,  and  said  to  be  rather  a  divine  than  a 
human  thing  to  have  found  that  way,  never  before  known, of 
going  to  the  east  where  the  spices  grow.  From  this  I  conceived 
a  great  desire,  or  rather  a  burning  of  the  heart  to  do  also 
something  distinguished,  and  knowing  by  the  nature  of  the 
Sphere,  that  if  I  sailed  by  way  of  the  north-west  Avind  I  should 
have  a  shorter  distance  to  find  the  Indies,  I  immediately  made 
this  thought  of  mine  known  to  the  King  who  was  much 
pleased.  ":j: 

*"Ad  annum  vigcsimumprimumeteo  usque  jiiveues  subtutelamieponiint." 
J  Stieuahook,  De  Jure  Si>evorum  et  Qolliorum  libri  duo,  Holmie,  1672- 
cited  hy  Bliickstone. 
f  "Quicumquo  annisxv.  .  .  Vcnctiis  continue  habitasset."  App.  ii 
^  See  App.       ^.  _-;--. --_--^e 


iNFLUKxcKi)  T!Y  coi.r.Mnrs's  success. 


89 


The  render  inust  have  rcinurkcd  that  the  anonymous 
writer  has  faHcn  into  two  serious  niistak(!H  of  fact,  one,  that  ho 
iiiiikes  .lohit  (He  in  l-liK?,  whereas  he  was  still  living  in  1498; 
llio  other,  that  he  I'xeludes  him  altofj^ether  from  the  ^lory  of 
tiii'Knjj;lish  discoveries  and  gives  all  the  credit  of  them  to  his 
.son  .Sebastian.  Further  on  we  shall  liave  a  hotter  opportunity 
to  turn  to  this  and  other  eri'ors  of  fact  in  Ramusio's  narrative, 
nt  present  we  niend}'^  call  attention  to  it  and  pass  on. 

The  beginning  of  the  narrative  is  somewhat  confused  and, 
liui  for  the  certain  information  we  Jiave  from  otiier  sources, 
we  might  be  led  to  believe  that  John  Cahot's  departure  from 
\'('iii('e,  and  his  going  to  l-higland,  and  then  to  London,  were 
all  in  close  succession.  This  ind(iliniteness  of  the  nai'rative  is 
easily  exphiined  by  reflecting  that  Anonymous  Iiad  Ins  mind 
fixed  on  London,  to  toll  us  where  and  on  what  occasion  Cabot 
ff)t  the  starting-point  of  his  glorious  career  of  discovery. 
Hence  he  hardly  touches  in  Hying  such  matters  as  liave  no 
direct  bearing  on  his  })]an,  exce})tso  far  as  necessary  to  under- 
stand the  main  point  of  Ids  narrative.  But  we,  who  know 
them  from  other  sources,  may  enlarge  on  them  and  fill  the 
ifap  in  his  narrative.  Thus  wo  understand  that  in  a  voyage  of 
his  from  Bristol  to  London  John  C'ahot  had  his  son  Hehastian 
with  him,  and  that  this  was  when  the  news  of  Christopher 
Coliunbus's  discovery  reached  London. 

Sebastian's  young  mind,  sensitive  to  strong  impressions, 
felt  greatly  moved  at  the  discourses  and  the  great  marvel 
that  was  made  at  that  event,  the  more  so  that  ho  was  not 
only  a  seaman's  son,  horn  in  a  city  whose  glory,  power,  and 
wealth  were  all  on  the  sea,  hut  because  his  natural  inclin- 
ation had  led  him  to  study  geography,  and  in  the  profit  he 
had  derived  from  it  ho  was  in  a  l)ctter  condition  to  appreciate 
the  work  and  measure  the  greatness  of  the  famous  Genoese 
than  many  of  his  most  enthusiastic  panegyrists.  It  was  those 
discourses  which  fsumed  the  flame  that  was  smouldering  in 
his  heart,  and  opened  to  his  young  fancy  the  boundless  fields 
of  future  conflicts  in  the  danger  and  glory  of  discovery.  The 
year  following  Sebastian  stamped  his  name  with  his  father's 
ill  the  first  discovery  cf  the  American  Continent. 


'■  h 


r\ 


t\ 


00 


The  IJPE  Ot'  HRHAHTlAN  CAnoT. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


I   : 


> 


Kxpediiion  of  1498. 

What  number  of  vessels  did  the  expedition  of  1498  consist 
of? — l*as(iuiili<«()  hud  told  his  hrothers  the  year  before  that 
the  ICin^  promised  ten  ships  for  the  new  expedition  :  Soncinn 
wrote  the  Duke  of  Milan  that  there  would  be  from  fifteen  tn 
twenty.*  The  letters  patent  of  February  3  provide  for  a 
fleet  of  six  ships  :+  but  the  Spanish  ambassador,  writing 
after  the  expedition  had  sailed,  puts  the  number  at  live. J 

There  were  but  two  according  to  Peter  Martyr  D'Angliicrn, 
and  Rfimiisio  and  Goniara  agree  with  him  ;  but  whereas 
Peter  Martyr  says  they  were  manned  at  Cabot's  expense.^ 
Ramusio  says  they  were  at  the  King's  ;  ||  and  Gomarr.  tor 
want  of  positive  information  confines  himself  to  reportiiij; 
that  some;  said  they  were  at  the  King's,  and  some  at  Cabot's 
own  expense.^f 

It  would  seem  a  hopeless  case  to  try  to  open  a  passage 
through  such  intricate  entanglements  of  contradiction,  ami 
that  tlie  best  plan  would  be  to  cut  it  short,  sweeping  asidi' 
all  this  encumbrance  of  thorns  and  brambles  we  find  in  the 


*Pasquai.igo  :—  "El  re  le  fi  promesan  n.  tempo  novo  navil  x  .  .  .  "  App.  xi. 

SoNCiNo  :  —  "la  Maestd  tie  Re  questo  primo  bono  tempo  gli  vole  miiiidaR' 
XV  in  XX  iiavili." —  App.  xii. 

+"....  may  take  at  his  pleasure  vi  Englislie  Shippes  ....  " — App.  xiv. 

:j:"El  rey  de  Iniilaterra  embio  cinco  naos."App.  xv. 

Ayala  repeats  liis  colleague's  words,  as  he  does  throughout :  "Delarmmla  qin' 
hizo  que  fiieron  cinco  naos  .  .   .  "App.  xvl. 

§  "Duoissibi  navigia  propria  pecunia  in  Britannia  ipsa  instruxit."  App.  xvii. 

II  "Siibito  feci  intendere  questo  mio  pcasieroalla  Maestide.  Re,  il  qnal .  .  ■ 
mi  arm6  due  caravelie."  App.  xix. 

TT  "El  qual  armo  dos  navios  en  Inglalerra.  ...  a  costa  del  Rey  Enrique  S*p- 
timo  ....  otrosdisen  qusasu  costa  ....  "App.  zzi. 


m 


CONTRA DIf Toil Y  STATEMENTS. 


91 


^viiy.  But  the  mnttor  (Unserves  a  little  pntiont  labor  nnd  por- 
liiiiis  tilt'  work  Hpont  on  it  will  not  bo  unprolitiiblc.  For  ono 
iliiii^j;.  I  Ik'Hovo  wo  must  loiivo  out  PiiHqiiali^o  and  Soncino  en- 
tirely, for  ncitber  could  do  more  tluui  repent  tlio  rumors  (Ix'U 
ciiiTciit.  And  even  admitlinjj;  lliiit  tlie  Kinj^  in  tbe  bent  ot'en- 
tlmsiiisiii  njimed  u  ititber  bi^j^b  li^nnv,  u  more  oulm  and  ae(!U- 
nilc  consideration  may  bave  sbown  bim  tiuit  tbe  nund)er  men- 
tioii'd  ill  tbo  loiters  patent  was  sutilcient.  As  to  tbo  (»tlier 
sttitoinents  I  tliink  our  labor  will  succeed  best  if  wo  first  un- 
tangle tbe  snarl  in  tbe  contradiction  between  Peter  Martyr 
iiiid  Hiiniusio. 

1  ii!iv('aln>ndy  said,  and  repeat  it  ben;,  tbat  Angbiera  wrote 
and  puMisbed  bis  I)(!cade  in  wbicb  be  speaks  of  tbis  cxjnMJi- 
tioii  wliile  Sebastian  Cabot  was  a  guest  in  bis  bouse.  It  is 
tilt  refore  to  my  mind  undoubted  tbat  be  received  or  veriiied 
his  information  from  Cabot's  own  lips.  But  the  anonymous 
uliosi^  discourse  is  reported  by  Ramusio  also  had  his  direct 
from  Sel)astian.  How  then  account  for  the  open  contradiction 
ill  fiicir  words  on  tbis  jioint  ?  It  would  be  absurd  to  suppose 
that  Sebastian  wanted  to  deceive  either  of  them  on  tbis  whilst 
fjiviiij^  bim  correct  information  on  all  other  matters.  We 
must  tben  suppose  that  tbe  memory  of  one  or  the  other  was 
at  fault.  Of  which  one  ?  Of  Ramusio's  anonymous,  because 
Anj,diiera  wrote  his  information  fresh  from  Cabot's  lips  ;  thd 
anonymous  on  the  contrary  referred  to  his  memory  a  lon<i^ 
time  after,  and  bis  information  only  reaches  us  at  third  hand 
tliioujfb  Ramusio,  who  besides,  from  the  very  commencemeat 
of  liis  narrative,  protests  that  he  docs  not  feci  himseff  capable  of 
irliitiiKj  it  in  all  its  particulars  as  they  wei'e  tc  ..  As  we  have 
no  reason  for  suspecting  Sebastian's  word,  we  i.ust  believe  that 
the  two  ships  were  ni'inned  at  Cal)ot's  expense  as  Peter  Martyr 
says,  and  not  at  the  King's  as  reported  by  Ramusio.  Another 
ilitficulty  is  here  presented,  how,  namely,  the  King  could  draw 
Itiuk  from  all  share  in  the  equipment  of  tbe  fleet  after  all  bis 
I'litliusiasm  the  year  before.  But  the  difficulty  vanishes  when 
we  remember  the  miserly  nature  of  Henry  VII.      An  English 


.1 


ufttorian  says  of  him  :     "Avarice  was,  on  the  whole,  his  ruling 
tiission ;  and  he  remains  an  instance,  almost  singular,  of  a 


■«  i 


iHi'' 
if* 


\¥, 


n 


THE  LIFE  OP  SEBASTIAN  CABOT. 


man  placed  in  a  high  station,  and  possessed  of  talents  for  jjreat 
aifairs,  in  whom  that  passion  predominated  abe/e  amliition. 
So  insatiable  was  liis  avarice .  .  .  ijy  all  these  arcs  of  accumula- 
tion, joined  to  a  rigid  frugality  in  his  expense,  he  so  filled 
his  coffers,  that  he  is  said  to  have  possessed  in  ready  nioucy 
the  sum  of  one  million  eight  'hundred  thousand  pounds ;  a 
treasure  almost  incredible,  if  we  consider  the  scarcity  of 
money  in  those  times."*  It  may  be  well  to  recall  here  that 
when  John  Cabot  had  roused  the  whole  people  of  En^laml 
to  enthusiasm  by  his  discovery  and  was  generally  belicvod  td 
have  opened  to  them  a  new  era  of  incalculable  wealth,  Kiiii,' 
Henry  in  token  of  the  royal  participation  in  the  general  n- 
joicing  and  of  his  munificent  recognition  of  so  great  an  evoiit 
sent  him  a  present  of  ten  pounds  sterling.  V/hat  wonder  i- 
it  that  this  miserly  disposition,  which  oii  every  grave  oc- 
(  ision  had  often  induced  him  to  forgot  all  regari  for  the 
majesty  of  his  throne  and  his  own  personal  decorum,  should 
make  hiui  loatii  to  draw  out  of  bis  securely  locked  coH'ors  tlio 
gold  he  had  sought  and  guarded  with  such  industry  and  caro 
to  venture  it  on  an  uncertain  undertaking  like  that  which 
Cabot  was  preparing  for  ?  It  must  also  be  borne  in  mind 
that  he  was  in  constant  necessity  of  money  for  combatting 
external  and  internal  enemies  who  kept  him  in  trouble  more 
CI  less  during  the  whole  of  his  long  reign,  and  obliged  him 
to  incur  fresh  expenses  at  the  very  time  when  this  expedition 
was  fitting  out. -I 

Henry  VIT,  hesitating  between  the  avarice  and  necessity 
v>'hich  held  him  back,  and  the  advantage  which  urged  him 
on,  did  as  such  characters  usually  do  vader  such  circumstf.iicos. 
He  made  a  show  of  acting,  and  urging  others,  turned  tlio 
merit  of  their  movement  in  his  favor,  remaining  in  the  mean- 
while in  the  comfort  of  his  own  repose. 

In  this  King's  book  of  private  expenses  we  read  t!io?e 
entries  : 

— "  22  March,  1408.  To  Landslot  Thirkill  of  London,  upon 
a  prest,  for  his  shipp  going  towards  the  Ilande  20  1. 


•Hume,  History  of  England,  ch.  xxvi. 


t  Hume  lb, 


THE  PART  TAKEN  BY  HENRY  VII. 


93 


— "Delivered  to  Launcelot  Tliirkill  going  towards  the  New 
Isle  in  prest,  20  1. 

_"1  April  14D8.  To  Thomas  Bradley  and  Lancelot  Thirkill 
going  to  the  New  Isle,  30  1. 

"To  John  Carter,  going  to  the  New  Isle,  in  rewarde  2  11."* 

From  these  entries  it  seems  to  me  evident  thlit  the  aid  of 
the  King  was  reduced  to  helping  by  loans  and  encouraging 
such  as  wished  to  take  part  in  the  expedition  ;  and  the  loans 
correspond  perfectly  to  tlie  character  of  a  miser,  for  they 
return  i)rincipal  and  interest. 

In  fact  it  was  natural  for  the  Spanisli  ambassador  to  say  the 
ships  of  the  expedition  were  sent  out  by  the  King,  for,  no 
matter  who  fitted  them  out,  it  was  still  his  order  that  nuido 
tiicmsail.  Now,  to  the  two  ships  fitted  out  at  Cabot's  own  ex- 
pense, add  three  others  itted  out  by  the  merchants  with  the 
aid  of  loans  from  the  King's  private  purse,  and  we  have 
the  precise  number  of  five  as  given  in  the  Spanish  dispatch. 
I  believe  this  was  the  actual  number  of  ships  that  sailed: 
which  is  practically  tlie  number  iixed  by  the  letters  patent  of 
February  3,  1498,  as  many  reasons,  all  very  likely,  may  bo 
found  to  account  for  the  failure  of  one  of  the  sliips.  But  why 
did  Cabot  mention  to  Peter  Martyr  and  llamusio  only  the 
two  vessels  fitted  out  at  his  own  cxi)ense  ? 

It  is  impossible  to  give  a  clear  answer.  It  nu;  y  be  useful  to  re- 
member that  Cabot  had  been  very  little  pleased  with  England 
and  the  support  for  his  discoveries  that  he  found  there.  Is 
it  not  possible  that  some  feeling  of  irritation  made  him  less 
just,  so  that,  giving  all  the  honor  of  the  discovery  to  his  own 
ships,  he  left  to  bo  regarded  as  mere  accessories  the  three  shi})S 
of  the  merchants,  doubtless  laden  with  articles  and  specir.''ens 
oftrad3? 

The  expedition  sailed  in  the  beginning  of  summer.f  300 
persons  went  with  it.±     It  had  two  purposes  ;  to  colonize  the 


*y.  App.  X. 

t ".  .  .  il  Ue  mi  arm6  due  Carnvtllc  di  tuUo  ci6  clie  em  di  blsogno  c  f u  .  .  . .  iiel 
priiicipiodella  slate  etcominciui  a  uavigare  verso  maestro "  App.  xix. 

}  Priino  leadens c«;»  honunihuatercantiun  ad  Scpteutiionenv  Pietro  Murtire 
(i'Aughiera.  —App.  xviii.  — Llevo  tnzieulos  liombres G^maia,  App.  xxi. 


11 


94 


THE  LIFE  OF  SEBASTIAN  CABOT. 


M3. 


iiiHi 


!;!'"t 


lands  discovered  on  the  previous  voyage,  tlic  other,  to  proceed 
further  till  they  reached  the  land  of  t^pices,  and  open  com. 
mercial  relations  with  it. 

Peter  Martyr  does  n:t  give  the  year  in  which  the  expedi- 
tion of  Sebastian  Cabot,  of  which  he  si:>eaks,  took  place  :  Imt  as 
he  distinctly  informs  us  that  Ir^  was  writing  of  it  in  151.").  uul 
the  whole  Decade  in  whifth  it  is  mentioned  was  printed  tlif 
same  year,  it  is  certain  that  his  account  cannot  refer  to  tli« 
voyage  to  the  same  places  undertaken  by  Sebastian  Cabot  in 
1516.*  Neither  does  Gomara  tell  us  the  year,  but  as  his  nar- 
rative is  drawn  so  faithfully  after  Peter  Martyr's  that  it  mimv 
be  en  lied  a  translation  of  it,  he  must  of  necessity  follow  iiim, 
and  if  Anghiera  takes  us  to  141)8,  Gomara  must  refer  to  the 
same  year. 

The  matters  related  by  Peter  Martyr  and  Gomara  moot 
the  account  given  by  Ramusio,  but  all  is  thrown  into  confusion 
by  the  date  he  gives  of  the  voyage  as  in  the  year  141)().  This 
is  the  third  time  that  we  have  had  to  comi)lain  of  Ramusio 
as  a  stumbling-block  between  our  feet  involving  us  in  seiioib 
difficulties;  on  the  two  previous  occasions  we  put  olf  the  ((ues- 
tion,  but  now  it  is  time  for  us  to  stop  and  inquire  into  it. 

Ramusio  relates  that  going  with  a  frientl  to  visit  the  cele- 
brated Fracastoro  at  his  villa  of  Caphi,  lu."  found  him  in  the 
company  of  "a  gentleman  who  was  a  great  philosopher  ami 
matheinatician,whose  name  out  vfirnprrf.  in  not  f/iven.'"  Thi.s  jiliil- 
osopher,  as  the  conversation  turned  upon  the  "plan  of  gdini; 
to  find  the  Indies  by  way  of  the  north-west  wind"  made  on 
thissubject  "a  long  and  admiralile  discourse  and  amongst  other 
things  related  a  visit  of  his  to  Sebastian  Cabot  in  Spain, 
and  the  accounts  the  latter  had  given  him  of  his  voyages  uini 
discoveries.  Ramu.sio,  who  was  then  composing  his  great  Colin- 


*  i?eter  Martyr  after  telling  of  Cabot's  expedition  for  the  benefit  of  Eniilnnd, 
writes  that  he  is  about  to  commence  another  for  tl«e  benefit  of  Spain  and  mdi 
cates  the  time  by  theee  words  :  "Martio  nicnse  cinni  fv.ttiri  MDXVI  put"  "il 
exploraudum  discessunim."  Even  witliout  tliem,  there  coi'M  be  no  doubt,  f  r 
the  Decade  was  printed  in  1516,  tliat  is  to  say,  diirins;  Uu;  expedition  tliiil  Si 
bastian  Cabot  made  tliat  year  to  tlie  western  sea,  liefore  it  was  i>()8sible  lo  luive 
any  information  of  its  incidents  or  results.  8ee  tlie  Bibliotheca  Americana  VcUi- 
tUsima  of  U.  Hurrisse,  p.  153. 


ii: 


i!''i 


RAMUSIO'S  ANONYMOUS. 


95 


tion  of  Voydges  and  Navigations,  inserted  in  it  this  discourse  of 
thegcntlei.aan,  putting  it  in  the  person  of  Cabot  himself  as  the 
Anonymous  had  done.  * 

We  are  not  told  in  what  year  Anonymous  mot  Sebastian. 
Avczac  supposes  it  was  in  1544  or  1545  ;f  but  as  it  is  neces- 
sary to  put  Ramusio's  visit  to  the  Villa  of  Caphi  in  1547  or 
1548  (as  Avezac  admits),  it  does  not  seem  to  me  that  at  the 
distance  of  only  three  or  four  years  Anonymous  could  have 
said  "finding  myself  miny  years  ago  in  the  city  of  Seville."  I 
tliorofore  think  the  Conversation  with  Sebastian  must  have  oc- 
curred some  years  earlier. 

The  story  of  Anonymous  begins  with  John  Cabot's  depart- 
ure from  Venice  and  his  settling  at  Bristol,  tliencc  running,  or 
rather  flying,  he  hints  at  what  Sebastian  Cabot  had  done  for 
Englaad,  his  arrival  in  Spain,  the  fresh  glory  acquired  and 
the  high  oifice  he  held  there;  that  is,  in  a  little  over  a  page,  it 
includes  a  period  of  time  extending  from  1477  till  beyond  1533, 
or  a  space  of  at  least  about  sixty  years,  but  probably  more.  This 
flight  over  such  space  of  time  could  naturally  allow  him 
to  make  nothing  more  than  a  slight  mention  of  events,  but, 
however  slight,  the  mention  is  most  valuable  to  us  in  our 
great  dearth  of  information  concerning  Cabot.  That  his  testi- 
mony is  correct  and  to  be  relied  on  is  proved  by  the  compari- 
son we  are  able  to  make  of  his  testimony  on  some  points 
vvitn  that  of  others,  and  which  shows  them  fully  to  agree. 
But  when  he  descends  to  any  details,  especially  of  drite.  he  has 


*Toinaso  Giimti,  who  republished  Rumiisio's  work  in  1613,  places  after  tliis 
Aiionyraous's  name,  I  Icuow  not  on  what  croinid  tlie  addition  of  Mantuan.  From 
this  Marco  Poscariui  supposed  it  was  the  Mantuan  Gianrjiaconio  Bartolo  (Ms.  N". 
6142  of  the  Imperial  Libriry  at  Vienna,  cited  by  C.  Bullo,  La  Vera  Patria  di 
Giovanni  Caboto  p.  xxviii).  Poscariui's  opinion  has  probably  no  other  t,'round 
tliiin  that  in  Fracastoro's  Dialogue  Navagcriua  sive  de  Poetica,  dedicated  to 
Riiraiisio,  oneof  the  persons  introduced  in  the  dialoguu  is  Joannes  Jacobus  Biir- 
ilulo  Mautuanus  civis.  Harrisse,  p.  339.  We  have  already  seen,  in  Chapter 
Vn,  that  Richard  Eden  durst  assert  that  he  was  Galeazzo  Bottrigari,  Papal 
Nuncio  to  Spain,  who  died  as  early  as  1518. 

\  Revue  Critiqued' Histoire  et  LUteraturc.  Premier  semestre,  1870,  p.  205.  The 
approximate  time  of  the  visit  to  theVilli"  of  Caphi  is  taken  from  these  words 
of  Anonymous  in  speaking  of  the  Portuguese  :  "  this  last  battle  of  theii.s  with 
the  King  of  Cambay."  As  it  was  fought  in  1546,  the  expression  this  could  not 
have  been  applied  to  U  later  than  1547,  or  at  MK.-t  1548.     . 


I     1^ 


m 


THE  LIFE  OF  BEBASTIAN  CABOT. 


made  the  greatest  confusion  possible.  We  have  already  seen 
that  he  makes  John  Cabot  die  about  the  time  that  Christoplicr 
Columbus  returned  from  his  discovery,  that  is,  in  IVX',, 
whereas  he  was  still  alive  in  1498.  We  sha''  soon  find  lain 
placing  the  departure  of  his  son  Sebastian  for  Spain,  to  enter 
the  service  of  the  Catholic  Kings,  immediately  after  his  return 
from  the  voyage  of  1498  ;  whereiis  it  is  proved  that  he  did  nut 
go  to  Spain  before  the  death  of  Henry  VII,  that  is,  not  before 
1509  ;*  or  rather  as  we  shall  see,  ho  did  not  in  fact  go  there 
till  1512.  He  further  says  that  he  went  to  Spain  to  serve  the 
Catholic  King  and  Queen  hahella  ;  when  that  great  woman 
had  been  dead  since  1504.f 

Such  confounding  of  dates  is  a  most  serious  fault  in  an  his- 
torian, but  in  this  particular  case  of  Sebastian  Cabot's  voyage, 
if  we  consider  the  matter  carefully,  Kamusio's  fault  is  a  very 
slight  one,  and  most  probably  none  at  all.  For,  in  the  tirst 
place,  we  must  remend)er  that  neither  he  nor  Anon'»  aious 
whose  discourse  he  is  reporting,  ever  had  any  intention  of  re- 
lating a  sketch  of  Sebastian  Cabot's  life,  so  that  it  would  be  nec- 
essary to  fit  its  parts  in  with  due  division  of  time  and  years ; 
neither  had  any  other  view  than  that  of  rehiting  the  voyajj^e 
of  discovery  which  Sebastian  Cabot  had  made  to  the  northern 
parts  of  America.  The  whole  story  is,  therefore,  directed 
to  this  purpose,  and  what  there  is  over  and  above-  and  not 
strictly  relating  thereto,  serves  only  to  tell  us  how  Schastiun 
came  to  be  in  England  to  make  the  voyage,  and  why  he  (hd 
not  continue  the  work  begun.  In  the  second  place,  we  nuist 
remember  that  when  Anonymous  related  his  story  in  Fracas- 
toro's  Villa  many  years  had  elapsed  since  his  conversation 
with  Sebastian  Cabot  in  Spain.;}:        Now  that  after  so  long  a 

*  "Familiarem  Iiabeo  dcmi  Cnhotum.  Vorntns  nnmqtie  ex  Britannia  a  reec 
nostrti  Cutuolici)  pnst  lli-nriei  miiimis  Brilnnniiie  rciris  mortem  ..." 
P.  Martyiis  de  Anslieria.  De  rebus  Oceanicis.  Dec.  iii.  lib.  vi.  Henry  VII 
died  in  tWO. 

f  "My  fiitlier  died  at  the  time  that  news  came  that  Senor  Don  Ciifistoplitr 
Ciiliimbns  tlie  Genoese,  had  discovered  the  shore  of  tlic  Indies..  .  .1  resolved  lo 
go  l)acklo  Eniiland.  .  .  .whereon  ariivini:  I  found  very  crent  cumnioiions.  . 
on  account  of  which  I  came  to  Spain  to  the  Caliiolic  Kini;  and  to    Queen  h'l- 
bella,  who  received  me  and  pave  me  n  good  Hppointmont."    App.  xix. 

J  "And  being  iu  the  city  of  Seville  sorac  years  ago."  App.  xix. 


IF 


:i 


RAMUSIO'S  ANONYMOUS. 


97 


time  a  man  of  sense,  as  he  was,  should  repeat  a  story  with 
suhstantial  correctness  is  very  possible  where  the  matter 
trciitod  of  is  one  that  greatly  interests  him  ;  but  it  would  bo 
;i  marvel  if  he  carried  the  same  correctness  into  the  details, 
especially  if  these  details  are  not  essential  to  the  substance 
of  the  story.  Add  to  tiiis,  that  Sebastian  Cabot's  story,  to 
r;iicli  us,  has  not  only  had  to  pass  through  the  memory  of 
Anonymous,  but  also  through  Ramusio's.  May  it  not  have 
lost  something  in  this  last  passage  ?  Ramusio  himself  answers 
hy  tlie  following  declaration  which  he  nuikes  before  begin- 
ning the  story  of  Anonymous. 

"  I  do  not  pretend,  "  he  says,  "  to  write  his  discourse  with 
;is/i(//  iletails  as  I  heard  it,  for  that  would  require  other  skill 
and  memory  than  I  possess  ;  still  I  will  try  to  give  a  sum- 
manj  or,  as  it  were,  the  heads  of  what  /  can  remember."*  If  this 
does  not  suffice,  hear  what  he  says  just  afterwards,  still 
speaking  of  the  discourse  of  Anonymous  :  "With  regard  to 
the  Mediterranean  Sea,  I  seem  to  remember  that  he  touched 
upon  T  know  not  what  voyage  that  might  be  made  on  it 
witli  great  profit,  but  to  what  place  haa  entirely  escaped  my 
■liDuori/:'-^-  Now,  if  Ramusio  entirely  -  forgot  all  about  a 
voyage  of  very  great  j)roflt  that  could  be  made  right  here  at 
liome,  on  the  Mediterranean,  is  it  to  be  wondered  at  that 
his  memory  should  slip  on  a  detail  concerning  a  voyage 
made  more  than  half  a  century  before  in  seas  entirely  un- 
known ? 

To  account  for  the  mistake  of  the  date  as  1496,  let  us  go 
hack  to  the  visit  which  Anonymous  made  to  Sebastian  Cabot 
at  Seville.;]:  The  great  man  receives  his  visitor  with  all  cour- 
tesy, and  yielding  to  his  request  gives  him  a  summary  ac- 


*  App.  xix. 

t  ll>.  "II  quale  ragionaniento,  egli  dice,  non  mi  bastti  rnnimo  di  potere 
iscrivere  cosi  particolarmente  com' io  lo  luii,  percli(5  vi  siirla  di  hisonno  ultro 
inmcno,  ei  ultra  memoria,  cbe  uou  i  la  inia,  piir  mi  sforzen'i  soimnanamente  e 
I  f  »i(  per  capi  di  recitar  quel  clie  mi  potrf>  ricordnre.  A  propositi)  dul  Mar 
I  Mi'iiiierniiieo  mi  par  ricordnre  clie  toccasse  anclie  di  non  so  clie  viaggio  che  si 
Ipixiiii  fan;  in  quello  di  graudissimo  proposilo,  ma  a  che  parte  emmi  al  tutto 
[pmto  dalla  tnemoria." 


98 


THE  LIFE  OF  SEBASTIAN  CABOT. 


I|j: 

count  of  the  voyages  and  discoveries  he  had  made.  As  this 
account  included  in  the  brief  space  of  a  conversation  tin 
course  of  many  years  and  events,  he  was  obHged  to  incntidii 
the  most  important  things  and  pass  lightly  over  tlic  rest. 

For  us  seeking  to  reconstruct  the  story  of  those  ovcnt> 
from  the  few  remaining  fragments,  it  is  of  greatest  importance 
to  fix  dates  ;  but  this  importance  did  not  exist  for  Cabot  wlin 
was  narrating  facts,  not  fixing  dates,  nor  for  Anonymous 
who  on  his  side  had  special  reasons  for  wishing  to  know  tin 
facts.  The  intention  of  both  was  to  relate  and  listen  to  tlii 
direction  of  voyages,  obstacles  met  with,  what  was  seen  am! 
done  ;  and  why  the  undertaking  did  not  answer  its  purjjosi. 
Of  all  this  we  find  a  lapid  mention  in  the  account  ot 
Anonymous.  There  was  one  thing  that  had  no  interest  for 
Anonymous,  though  it  had  much  for  Sebastian,  and  he  coukl 
not  have  omitted  it.  Any  one  who  has  read  autobiographies, 
even  those  of  great  men,  must  have  observed  how  they  dwell 
on  all  the  details  of  their  first  steps  in  the  career  of  their  {great- 
ness, and  the  difficulties  they  met  and  overcame,  whilst  tlitv 
are  concise  enough,  and  often  sparing,  to  the  reader's  regret, 
with  the  facts  of  the  greatest  and  most  general  importance. 
For  we  all  judge  theimportanceof  things  by  their  impression 
on  us  rather  than  their  intrinsic  value.  This  is  so  general 
that  it  has  no  need  of  examples  to  prove  it.  Now,  in  the 
first  days  of  his  career  as  navigator  and  discoverer,  what  must 
have  made  a  deep  impression  on  Sebastian  Cabot's  mind,  sn 
that  it  would  be  in  his  thoughts  and  he  would  be  sure  to  speak 
of  it  to  any  one  asking  for  the  story  of  those  first  years  of  his 
life  ?  It  must  have  been  the  patent  by  which  King  Henrv 
VII  authorized  his  father  and  brothers  and  himself  to  sail  on 
new  discoveries.  Who  can  say  how  John  Cabot  had  strui:- 
gled  to  procure  that  longed-for  patent  ?  How  many  stairs 
he  went  up,  what  repulses  he  endured,  how  often,  when  he 
believed  he  had  succeeded,  he  had  to  begin  anew  ?  To  Se- 
bastian, whose  youth  and  taste  inclined  him  strongly  to  the 
sea,  this  continued  alternating  between  hope  and  discoura;;e- 
ment  must  have  been  much  more  painful  than  to  his  father: 
dud  in  proportion  to  the  anxiety  of  deferred  hope  must  have 


KAMUSIO'S  ANONYMOUS. 


99 


been  the  pleasure  of  receiving  the  patent.  That  day  opened 
cltar  and  sure  to  him  the  road  of  discovery,  and  it  was  im- 
niNsibie  for  its  date  ever  to  be  erased  from  his  memory.  He 
cdiild  not  have  failed  to  mention  that  starting-point  to  one 
niestioning  him  concerning  his  glorious  career.  It  seems  to 
Die  most  natural  (and  therefore  true)  that  he  commenced  the 
ftncount  of  his  discoveries  from  the  year  in  which  the  royal 
Biitent  authorized  them,  that  is,  from  1496.  His  auditor 
ns  not  thinking  of  that,  but  of  the  voyage,  and  when  he 
ieard  this  given  as  the  starting-point,  he  took  it  for  the  start- 
liriL'-point  of  his  voyage  instead  of  that  of  his  career. 

Or  it  may  be  supposed  with  no  less  probability  that  Anony- 
mous caught  the  true  sense  of  Sebastian  Cabot's  words  and  so 
ppeatcd  them,  and  Ramusio  confounded  the  two  events.  Ra- 
lusio  liiinself  leads  me  to  suppose  this,  for  in  his  first  edition 

precedes  the  date  of  1496  with  the  words,  saving  the  truth. 
"The  King  ....  fitted  me  up  two  caravels  with  «!very  thing 
aeoded,  and  inis  was,  saving  the  truth,  in  149^."*  So  that 
lamusio  himself  was  in  doubt  whether  he  was  correctly  report- 
ing or  had  rightly  understood  the  words  of  Anonymous.  In  sub- 
equent  editions,  for  what  reason  I  know  not,  this  eloquent 
Sttle  parenthesis  is  ommitted.  The  date,  then,  of  1496,  given 
by  Ramusio  can  create  no  difficulty  ;  and  as  in  his  account  he 
(ngrees  with  the  narrative  of  Peter  Martyr  d'  Anghiera,  it 
lust  be  certain  that  they  are  both  speaking  of  the  same  voy- 
age, and  as  that  mentioned  by  Peter  Martyr  refers  to  1498, 
K  must  place  Ramusio's  in  the  same  year. 

Having  thus  cleared  our  path  of  the  first  obstacle  that  con- 
roiited  us,  let  us  see  what  we  can  put  together  from  the  dif- 
ferent accounts.  We  know  from  Ayala's  dispatch  that  the  fleet 
liad  hardly  got  to  sea  when  it  was  struck  hy  a  violent  storm, 
|»nd  one  of  the  ships  was  so  damaged  that  it  went  back  for 
afoty  to  the  coast  of  Ireland.  There  was  a  Friar  Bull  on  this 
Vessel ;  most  likely  a  religious  sent  out  for  service  among  the 

Dlonios  whom  it  was  intended  to  leave  in  the  lands  newly  dis- 


* "II  Re  .  .  .mi  arra6  due  caiavelle  di  tntto  ci5  che  era di  bisogno  et  fu,  salvo 
Imto,  nel  1496."  P.  402.  -The  first  edition  was  published  iu  Venice  by  thf 
Mri  o(  LucBDtODio  Giunti,  in  the  year  MDL. 


.  V,.|: 


fs:  I, 


i<   ;■  ► 


.1 


100 


THE  LIFE  OF  SEBASTIAN  CABOT. 


,1'    "  ■  ■ 

ii  :  :■■■ 

i 

J 

t; 
• 

1".   ■ 
it 

i 

covered.*  Ramusio  says  in  general  terms  that  the  fleet  on  leav. 
ing  England  took  a  course  to  the  r.orth-west.f  Gomnra  more 
definitely,  that  it  sailed  towards  Iceland. :}:  Between  this  island 
and  liristol  there  was  some  commerce  in  relation  to  fish  ;  and 
Biddle  thinks  that  Cabot  very  prudently  regarded  it  as  a  place 
where  he  could  give  his  men  a  resting-place  on  the  long  vov- 
age  on  which  he  was  taking  them,  and  avoid  the  fatigue  which 
its  excessive  length  might  produce  on  the  sailors  in  the 
watery  solitude.§ 

Why,  instead  of  sailing  due  west,  did  they  take  a  course  so 
far  to  the  north  ?  It  is  necessary  to  pause  a  little  to  answer 
this  question,  in  order  that  our  story  may  proceed  with  clear- 
ness and  without  obstacles.  The  Cabots  had  believed  they 
had  arrived  at  the  continent  of  Asia  on  their  previous  dis- 
covery. But  later,  whether  the  eflect  of  information  coming 
from  Spain  concerning  the  discoveries  of  Christopher  Co- 
lumbus, which  told  only  of  new  islands,  or  a  more  mature  and 
calm  study  of  the  stories  of  Marco  Polo,  the  only  authority 
that  could  be  had  on  the  extreme  eastern  regions  of  Asia, 
who  related  that  in  front  of  those  countries  there  was  a  long 
stretch  of  islands  in  the  sea,  or  whatever  else  it  nuiy  have  heen 
(for  it  is  not  possible  for  us  to  know  all  these  particulars,  and 
it  would  not  help  us  if  it  were);  the  fact  is  and  of  this  there  is 
no  question,  that  a  change  had  been  effected  in  Cabot's  mind 
in  regard  tc  the  real  character  of  the  places  he  had  discovered, 
and  in  accordance  with  this  change  were  his  new  aspirations 
and  the  new  purposes  of  his  third  expedition. 

Admitting,  then,  that  the  land  explored  on  the  previous  I 
voyage  was  an  island,  it  naturally  followed  that  the  conti- 


♦App.  xvi.— It  is  strantre  that  the  friar  who  went  with  Christopher  Co- 
lumbus to  evangelize  the  New  World  was  also  named  Buil.  Hiinisse  asks; 
"  Miffht  he  not  be  the  same  ?"  p.  102.  If  so,  it,  mnst  have  been  slinme  or  remorse 
that  induced  him  to  return  to  Ute  New  World,  tliere  to  wash  away  tliedarkj 
stain  contracted  there  by  his  infamous  conduct  towards  Cliristopher  Coliimliii' 
See  Tarducci's  Life  of  Christopher  Columbus.  Bitok  1.  g1».  31. 

t  App.  xix.  J  Ti    i 

t  Prometio  . .  .  de  ir  por  el  norte  al  Cataio  ,  ,  .  y  camino  la  buella  de  islan- 
dia — App.  xxi. 

S  Memoir,  p.  33, 


THE  COURSE  TAKEN  IN  1498. 


101 


nent  must  bo  beyond;  for  no  one  had  as  yet  suspected  that  the 
lands  which  were  discovered  belonged  to  a  new  continent,  it 
was  still  the  universal  conviction  that  beyond  the  Atlantic 
must  be  the  continent  of  Asia  .  The  aim  of  the  present  voy- 
ajre  was  therefore  limited  to  finding  among  these  islands  a 
channel  giving  passage  to  the  mainland.  On  the  previous 
voyage  they  had  explored  a  long  tract  of  the  coast  of  Lab- 
rador without  finding  its  end.  On  this,  to  avoid  the  ne- 
(■'s.sity  of  repeating  the  tiresome  sailing  along  the  part  of  Lab- 
rador which  they  had  seen  the  year  before,  from  Jie  time  of 
leaving  they  go  up  well  to  the  norti-^-vest,  and  then  chango 
to  due  west,  sure  of  finding  an  open  sea  north  of  the  land  a- 
long  wliich  they  had  coasted  the  previous  years,  or  that  at 
least  they  should  not  have  far  to  sail  before  they  came  to  the 
end  of  the  coast.  On  reaching  the  mainland  beyond  the  isl- 
ands, it  was  their  intention  to  sail  south  until  they  came  op- 
posite to  the  island  of  Cipango,  which  they  imagined  to  be  the 
centre  of  the  wealth  and  treasures  of  the  East.  "Master  John," 
writes  Sonei.o,  "has  set  his  mind  on  higher  things,  because 
he  thinks  that  after  reaching  that  place  he  can  sail  always 
close  to  the  shore,  further  towards  the  east,  till  he  is  opposite 
to  an  island  which  he  calls  Cipango,  situated  in  the  equatorial 
region,  and  where  all  the  spices  and  jewels  of  the  world  come 
from."*  And  Ramusio  more  distinctly  yet,  "Cabot  expected 
to  find  no  land  till  he  came  to  that  where  Cathay  is,  and  then 
from  there  to  turn  towards  the  Indies  ;  but  after  a  few  days 
he  found  that  it  trended  to  the  north,  at  which  sight  he  was 
infinitely  disappointed  ;  he  returned  along  the  coast  to  see  if 
he  could  find  a  gulf  to  change  the  direction,  but  came  to 
none  till  he  reached  fifty-six  degrees  under  our  pole,  where 
seeing  that  the  coast  turned  eastwards,  he  went  back  in  de- 
spair 'io  explore  the  same  coast  on  the  side  towards  the  south, 
still  with  the  hope  of  finding  a  passage  to  the  Indies,  "f 


"Messer  Zoanne  ha  postol'  animo  ad  mnggior  cosa  perche  pensa,  da  quello 
loco  occiipato  andarsene  sempre  a  Riva  Rivapift  verso  al  Levante,  tanto  cliel 
sia  al  npposito  de  una  iaola,  da  lui  chlamiita  Cipango,  posta  in  la  resione 
equinocliale  dnve  crede  che  nascano  tutte  le  speciarie  del  mundo  et  anche  le 
gioie."  App.  xiii. 
t  "Caboto  si  peasava  di  non  trovar  terra,  se  non  quella  dove  d  11  Catalo,  e  dl 


102 


THE  LIFE  OF  SEBASTIAN  CABOT. 


i'l 


■■'•'■: 

Peter  Martyr  says  nothing  of  the  heiglit  of  latitude  reatlicl 
on  the  voyage,  but  tolls  us,  "that  they  went  so  far  north  that  in 
the  month  of  July  they  found  immense  masses  of  ice  floutingin 
the  sea,  and  the  day  was  almost  continual."*  Gomara  gives  tlie 
same  details  as  Peter  Martyr  with  the  addition  of  the  degrw 
reached  which,  instead  of  being  the  fifty-sixth  as  Raniusiohiis 
it,  he  says  vas  the  fifty-eighth.t 

So  we  are  again  in  difficulty  and  must  work  our  way  tlirougn 
contradictory  accounts.  The  reader  has  probably  observed 
that  in  Ramusio's  account  there  is  one  point  where  he  ruiij 
against  a  truth  of  fact.  The  fifty-sixth  degree,  which  ho  givij 
as  the  final  point  to  which  Cabot  sailed,  takes  us  right  on  the 
coast  of  Labrador,  which  instead  of  trending  east,  trends  to  tin 
north-west,  just  in  the  direction  that  Cabot  had  supposed.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  circumstances  mentioned  by  Peter  Martyr, 
of  the  masses  of  floating  ice,  and  the  almost  continual  dav 
are  absolutely  irreconcilable  with  the  latitude  as  given  by  Ra- 
musio;  for  although  it  may  not  be  impossible  to  see  some  stray 
icebergs  in  the  sea  that  bathes  the  coast  of  Labrador,  they  are  | 
never  numerous  enough  to  make  navigation  difficult  or  dan- 
gerous, certainly  not  in  July,  as  happened  to  Cabot.  Nor  is  i 
the  night  in  that  latitude  so  short  as  to  warrant  the 
expression  that  the  day  was  almost  continual.  The  same 
difficulty  with  a  slight  difference  is  found  with  Gomaras 
fifty-eighth  degree.  The  skein  seemed  so  tangled  as  to  leave 
no  hope  of  being  able  to  undo  it ;  but  an  acute  remark  of 
Zurla's  has  put  its  head  in  our  hands  ,  and  as  his  suggestion 

]&  poi  voltaie  verso  le  Indie,  ma  in  capo  di  alquanti  giorni  la  discoperse  rhe 
coireva  verso  tramontana,  la  qunl  vista  gli  fu  di  infinite  dispiacere  ;  epure 
andando  dietro  la  costa  per  vedeie  se  poteva  trovare  qualche  golfo  che  voltasse 
non  vi  fu  mai  ordine,  flncbfi  andato  sino  a  gradi  cinquanta  sei  sotto  il  nostra 
polo,  vedendo  che  quivi  la  co8ta  voltava  verso  levante,  disperato  di  trovarloj 
se  ne  torn6  a  dietro  a  riconoscere  ancora  la  detta  costa  dalla  parte  veisol'| 
equinoziale  sempre  con  intenzione  di  trovar  passaggio  alle  Indie."  App.  xix, 

*  ". . .  primo  tendens ad  scptenlrionem  donee  etiam  Julio  monsevasti'l 

repererit  glacinles  moles  pclago  natantes  et  lucem  fei h  perpetuam.. ."  App.xviii  j 
t  ".  ..hasta  se  poneren  cinquanta  yocho  grados.  Aunque  el  dize  muchonmj 
contandocomoavia  por  el  mes  dc  Julio  tanto  frioy  peda^os  dezelo  quenoosol 
passar  mas  adelante,  y  que  los  dias  eran  graDdissi>ao8  y  quasi  sin  noclieylnj 
noches  muy  claras."  App.  xxi. 


.  11. ^ 


TllE  LATITIDE  nDACHtD. 


109 


ftfjrecs  perfectly  with  tho  placos  jukI  fact  to  which  ho  refers,  it 
soeiiisto  me  reasonable  to  accept  and  follow  it.*  lie  observed 
that  to  have  such  length  of  daylight  as  to  make  tho  day  appear 
ali'iost  uninterrupted  it  is  necessary  to  go  at  least  ten  degrees 
|iijrli(!itlian  Raniusio  puts  it,  and  reach  00°.  There,  in  fact,  enor- 
mous nuisses  of  ice  may  be  met  with  even  in  the  middle  of  .July, 
Tlii'se  circumstances  should  suffice  to  convince  us  that  there  is 
an  error  in  the  number  50  given  by  Ramusio,  and  that  it  should 
i)eO().  But  in  addition  to  the  circumstances  mentioned  by  Zurla, 
tlicro  is  it  third  which  completes  the  agreement  throughout. 
This  lust  r  think  should  be  examined  at  some  length  to  remove 
all  question  as  to  Zurla's  supposition.  Gomara  has  told  us 
that  on  leaving  Bristol  the  expedition  sailed  towards  Iceland. 
If  wo  cast  our  eyes  over  the  map,  and  from  the  southern 
point  of  Iceland  along  which  Cabot  sailed  with  his  fleet  we 
follow  his  course  to  the  west  till  we  come  to  land,  after  a 
few  (/«//.s',  as  Ramusio  says,  we  find  it,  and  it  is  Greenland  in 
tho  same  latitude  as  we  found  Iceland,  for  its  lowest  latitude 
C3°'2()',and  Cape  Farewell  the  extreme  southern  limit  of 
Greenland  extends  to  59°  43',  and  the  short  distance  between 
them  agrees  perfectly  with  Ramusio's  expression,  "after  a  few 
days."  Cabot,  who  expected  to  find  no  land  till  he  came  to  that  where 
Cafkni)  is,  is  infinitely  disappointed  at  this  sight.  The  cuast  of 
Greenland  where  we  have  arrived  coming  direct  from  Iceland 
trends  to  the  north,  precisely  as  Ramusio  expresses  it  ;  and  Cabot 
returns  along  the  coad  to  see  if  lie  can  find  a  gulf  to  change  the  direc- 
tion. Hut  after  a  long  stretch  of  land  the  coast  of  Greenland  turns 
to  the  north-east ;  wherefore  Cabot,  according  to  Ramusio,  see- 
ing that  the  coast  turned  eastwards,  in  despair  of  finding  a  gv.lf,  turns 
hack.  Here  every  thing  fits  into  Ramusio's  account  ;  the  only 
variance  is  as  to  the  point  where  the  land  turns  to  the  east ;  for 
Raniusio  says  it  is  at  56°,  while  Greenland  shows  it  to  be  at  66°, 
just  where  great  masses  of  ice  float  in  the  sea,  and  the  day  is  almost 
continuous,  as  D'  Anghiera  says. 

*  Phicido  Zurla,  Di  Marco  Polo  e  degli  altri  Viaggiatori  Venezianipiu  illuatri, 
vol.  ii,  p.  278.  Veneziii;  Fuchs,  1818.  True,  Zurla  confounds  the  present  voy- 
age with  that  made  iu  1516,  but  lliat  takes  nothing  from  the  aculeuess  of  bis 
view  in  regard  to  this  particular. 


I 


■ 


104 


THE  LIFE  OP  SEBASTIAN  CABOT. 


I<1 


h'i 


After  this,  can  wo  hositato  to  eorroct  the  50°  of  Raiiiusio 
by  HulKstituting  ()()°  u.s  ix'oposcd  hy  Zuria? 

With  tliosi!  mattors  doanid  up,  tho  (course  and  plan  of  Sc- 
bantian  Cabot  soom  to  mo  to  beconio  phiin  enough. 

Tho  historian  cannot,  Uko  tho  romancor,  give  free  lii^'litto 
his  fancy,  but,  if  ho  couhl,  what  things  he  would  have  to 
think  and  to  say  of  that  "inHnite  disappointment,"  iiml 
that  "despair"  with  which  (.abot  in  tlic  narrative  of  Aiioiiy. 
mous  pictures  his  state  of  mind  wlien  lie  saw  the  land  lutiiiv 
his  forecast  and  hope,  and  he  was  compelled  to  decide  on 
going  back  I  Those  nnisses  of  ice  and  that  almost  perpet- 
ual day  can  make  no  great  impression  on  us,  accustomed  as 
we  are  to  so  many  tales  of  navigation  in  the  polar  sous, 
aud  tolerably  acquainted  with  the  lay  of  the  land  and  tho 
character  of  the  country  ;  but  facing  (!abot  and  his  compan- 
ions there  was  the  dread  of  the  unknown.  How  far  would  tliiit 
laud  extend  ?  and  where  would  it  end  ?  Would  it  leave  soiiiu 
passage  open  ?  or  would  it  continue  without  a  break  till 
it  joined  on  to  Norway  shutting  in  tho  whole  sea  ?  This  aji- 
prehension  of  a  continuous  extension  of  American  territory 
till  it  united  with  the  northern  regions  of  Europe  may  soom 
strange  to  us  with  oui  knowledge  of  the  geography,  but 
it  was  most  natural  it  should  present  itself  to  Sebastian 
Cabot's  mind.  So  true  is  this,  that  the  XVI  century  was  half 
over  and  the  question  whether  North  America  joined  Norway 
or  left  open  a  passage  by  sea,  was  still  vexing  the  minds 
of  geographical  historians.  "Why,"  wrote  Ramusio  in  1550, 
"have  the  Princes  not  been  able  to  make  discoveries  to  the  North 
where  the  land  of  Labrador  is,  and  ascertain  whether  it  joins 
Norway,  jr  there  is  water  there  ?"*  Another  thought,  not  less 
harrowing,  presented  itself  to  Cabot's  mind.  For,  even  if  tliore 
should  be  an  open  sea  there,  if  these  enormous  masses  of 
floating  ice  rendered  navigation  difficult  and  dangerous  in 
the  middle  of  July,   what  would  it  be   when   the   season 


*  "PerchS  non  potevan  gli  Principi.  ,  .  .far.  .  .  .discoprir  verso  tramontana 
dove  d  la  terra  del  Lavoratore,  et  veder  se  ella  si  congiunge  con  la  Norvegia, 
over  se  vi  6  mare ....  V'Raccolta,  vol,  i,  p.  414.  B. 


HIH  DIHAPrOINTMKNT. 


105 


wftfl  inoro  advanced  and  they  snilin^  fnrtlior  nortli  ?  "Sooing 
that  tilt'  ('oiiHt  turntMl  t'listwiinls,  in  dcspiiir  of  lindinii:  'my  K'df 
to  (li.in;i:('  till*  dir('(!ti()n  ho  went  hack  to  (vxitloin  I  Ik;  sanio 
const  on  tho  side  towards  tho  south,  .still  with  thi!  hoix*  of 
liiidin^f  ii  passage  to  the  Indies  ;  and  ho  wont  us  fur  us  what 
at  present  they  call  Floriihi."* 

Another  dilHculty  meets  us  here.  If  Sehastian  Cahot  camo 
to  the  coast  of  Greenland  and  from  there  sailed  down  us  far 
as  Florida,  looking  for  an  opening,  how  did  he  happen  not  to 
enter  the  hroad  gulf  which  o[)ens  hetween  (freeidand  and  Lah- 
rador?  Tho  most  natural  answer  to  this  (luestion  seems  to  me, 
tliiit  he  supposed  the  new  land  seen  on  this  voyage  was  the 
continuation  of  what  ho  had  seen  tho  year  hefore  and  sailed 
along  its  coast  for  300  leagues  ;  and  that  so  supposing,  ho  did 
not  sail  close  to  the  shore  from  tho  point  ho  had  reached 
in  Greenland,  hut  to  save  time,  ho  took  the  course,  with  his 
ships,  straight  for  Lahrador,  and  so  did  not  observe  the  broad 
gulf  which  he  left  on  his  right.  However,  with  such  dearth  of 
information  wo  cannot  pretend  to  reconstruct  the  whole  course 
of  his  navigations  :  it  is  much  if  wo  succeed  in  fixing  a  point 
hero  and  there.  Peter  Martyr  D'Anghiera  to  indicate  the  place 
whore  Cabot  stopped  his  exploration,  uses  these  words  :  '*He 
proceeded  so  far  south  as  to  reach  nearly  tho  latitude  of  the 
Strait  of  Gibraltar,  and  so  far  west  as  to  leave  Cuba  on  his  left 
and  nearly  in  the  same  meridian. "f 

The  precise  indication  given  by  Petei  Martyr  of  tho  lat- 
itude as  the  same  as  that  of  the  Strait  of  Gibraltar,  leaves  no 
doubt  that  the  most  southern  point  reached  by  Cabot  must  bo 
placed  along  the  shore  of  Chesapeake  Bay.  If  Ramusio's 
Anonymous  mentions  Florida  as  the  extreme  point,  it  is  be- 


*  "  Vedendo  dunqne  die  la  coata  voltava  verso  leviinte,  disperato  di  trovare 
un  qimlclie  golfo  clie  voltasse,  se  ne  torn5  n  dietro  a  riconoscere  ancorala  delta 
ensttt  dalla  parte  verso  1'  equinoziale  sempre  con  intenzione  di  trovar  passaggio 
Rile  Indie  ;  e  venne  sino  a  quella  die  diiamaoo  ul  presente  Floiida."  Ramusio. 
See  App.  xix. 

t  "Tetcnditque  tantntn  ad  meridiem,  littore  sese  Incurvante,  ut  Herculei  fretus 
lutitudinis  fere  gradiis  aequarit :  ad  occidentemque  profectus  tantiim  est,  Cii- 
l)am  iasulam  a  leva  lOO^tudine  graduum  pene  parem  babuerit."— App.  N. 
xvUi. 


.h;i 
\  ' 

t 
(   ] 


n«*iiMF 


106 


tHE  LIFE  OP  SEBASTIAN  CABOT. 


I 


cause  nothing  was  at  that  time  known  of  the  extent  of  that  pen* 
insula  to  the  Northwards,  and  it  was  very  easy  to  make  n  mis- 
take  and  include  under  that  name  not  only  the  f  oiiinsula 
proper,  hut  also  the  coast  region  of  Georgia  and  the  Carolinaa* 
Arriving  at  the  Chesapeake  he  was  obliged  to  return  lo  Eng- 
land for  want  of  piovisions.f  Did  the  colonization,  which 
we  said  was  one  of  th  j  purposes  of  the  expedition,  take  ))lace? 
That  besides  the  discovery  of  new  lands  colonization  was  also 
intended,  is  clearly  stated  in  the  documents.  In  the  first 
place,  the  number  of  three  hundred  persons  embarked  on  tiie 
ships  is  too  great  for  a  mere  expedition  of  discovery,  and  can 
only  be  explained  on  the  idea  of  a  colonization  :  and  the 
words  of  Pasqualigo  in  his  letter,  "These  English  follow  hira 
like  fools,  but  let  as  many  as  he  can  get,  and  even  some  of  our 
knaves  too,  go  with  nim,":j:  can  have  no  other  meaning  than 
this,  of  a  colonization.  The  same  sense  must  be  given  totlo 
words  of  the  second  patent  giving  permission  to  leave  to  "all 
suche  maisters,  maryners,  pages,  and  vur  subjects  as  of  their 
owen  free  wille  woll  goo  and  passe  with  hym  in  the  same 
shippes  to  the  seid  Lands  or  Iles."§ 

Still  more  definite  is  Gomara's  account  which  says  :  "He 
promised  King  Henry  to  go  to  Cathay  by  the  north,  and 
bring  ppices  from  there  in  less  time  than  the  Portuguese  by 
the  south.  He  went  also  for  the  purpose  of  ascertaining 
what  sort  of  lands  the  Indies  would  be  for  peopling  :  he  took  with 
him  three  hundred  men."|| 

Finally,  Soncino  in  so  many  words  says  that  it  was  intended 
to  found  a  colony.  "It  is  reported  that  the  said  majesty  wi'l 
soon  fit  out  some  ships  and  moreover  will  give  them  all  the 
criminals,  and  they  will  go  to  found  a  colony  in  that  country, 


*  Ii.  Hughes,  1.  c.  p.  257. 

f  "Et  mancandotni  ^li  la  vettovaglia,  presi  partitn  di  ritornarmene  in  Ingbil 
terra." — Ramnsio,  App.  xix. 

X  "  Sti  InglesI  li  vano  driedi  a  modo  pazi  epur  nevolese  tantiquanti  n'avr^ 
con  lui,  et  etiam  moUi  dei  nostri  furfanti."  See  App.  zl. 

§App.  xiv. 

I  "I  prometio  ai  rey  Enrique  de  yr  por  el  norte  al  Cataio y  trner  de  nlln espedit 
en  menod  tiempo  que  Portugueses,  por  el  sur.  Y  va  tambien  por  saber  jiw 
tierraeran  las  Indiaa  para  poblar .  Llevo  trezieutua  hombres."  See  App.  xil 


INTENDED  COLONIZATION. 


107 


by  which  means  they  hope  to  do  a  larger  business  in  spices 
at  London  than  is  done  at  Alexandria."  *  There  was  then 
undoubtedly  an  intention  of  colonizing  the  new  lands.  What 
came  of  it  we  know  not.  It  is  supposed  that  an  attempt  at 
colonizatioi?  was  made  in  the  land  of  Labrador,  and  Gomara 
teems  to  give  good  grounds  for  this  supposition  when  he  says 
that  Cabot  made  a  stop  at  the  land  of  the  Bacallaos.f  It  would 
also  seem  to  be  confirmed  by  what  the  Venetian  ambassador 
to  Portugal,  Pietro  Pasqualigo  wrote  on  October  19,  1501,  to 
his  brothers,  on  the  return  of  Gaspar  Cortereal's  expedition, 
only  eleven  days  after  it  entered  the  Portuguefue  harbors:  "They 
have  brought  here  VII,  between  men  and  women  and  boys.... 
in  their  land  they  have  no  iron  •  but  they  make  knives  out  of 
some  stones  ;  and  likewise  heads  of  arrows.  And  they  have 
also  brought  from  there  a  piece  of  a  broken  gilt  sword  which  cer- 
tainly appears  to  have  been  made  in  Italy  :  one  of  the  boys  had 
in  his  ears  two  silver  rings  which  seem  without  doubt  to  have 
been  made  at  Venice";}:  True,  Pasqualigo  refers  in  his 
letter  to  another  voyage  made  by  Cortereal  the  year  before,  | 
and  so  the  articles  from  Europe  found  in  the  j)ossession  of 
those  savages  might  have  come  from  his  own  ships  on 
the  previous  expedition  ;  but  as  Cortereal  in  1501  went 
further  north  than  the  land  he  discovered  the  year  befcire, 
and  consequently  nearer  to  the  English  discoveries,  and  all 
those  articles  were  of  Venetian,  and  not  Portuguese  manufact- 


*"A  tempo  novo  se  dice  che  la  Maesti  prefata  armar&  alcuai  navilij.et  ulira 
li  dar^  tulti  li  malfattori  et  andaraao  in  qtiello  paese  a  fare  una  colon ia,  medi- 
aute  la  quale  sperano  de  fare  in  Londres  maggior  fondaco  de  speciarie  cLe  sia 
in  Alexandria."  App.  xiii. 

t  "Ilehaziendoseen  los  Baccalaos.  App.  xxi. 

t  "Hanno  conduct!  qui  vii,  tra  bomini  et  femene  et  putti  de  quelli.  .  .  .nella 
terra  loro  non  hanoo  ferro  ;  ma  fanno  cortelli  de  alcunc  pietre  ;  et  simllmente 
ponte  de  f  reze.  Et  quilli  ancliora  hanno  porta  de  la  uno  pezo  de  apada  rotla  do- 
rata  liiqiial  certopar  facta  in  Italia:  uno  putto  de  questi  haveva  ale  orecbia  du4 
lodini  de  avzento,  die  senza  dubbio  pareno  atafacti  a  Venetia."  This  letter  is 
printed  in  a  hook,  now  very  rare  published  at  Vioenza  in  1507,  under  the  title, 
"I  aesi  novamente  retrovati  et  novo  mondo  da  Alberico  Vesputlo  Florentino 
intitiilato." 

S"Credono  che  sia  terra  ferma  la  qunl  continua  in  un'  altra  terra  che  lanopai- 
tato,  fo  discoperta  sotto  la  tramontasa."  lb. 


'?! 


1  -  i  I 


i- 


|IT 


lOS 


THE  LIFK  OF  SEr.ASTlAN  CABOT. 


ure,  it  would  seem  moro  natural  to  suppose  they  came  from 
the  ships  of  Cabot,  who,  as  a  Venetian  and  sailing  from  a  city 
where  tliere  was  a  most  flourishing  colony  of  Venetian  mer- 
chants, would  obviously  have  carried  many  articles  imported 
from  his  own  city  and  by  his  own  countrymen. 

The  asperity  of  the  climate  probably  rendered  the  attempt 
abortive.  But  the  climate  was  not  likely  to  be  the  main  con- 
sideration :  many  more  persons  than  had  been  counted  on 
having  remained  on  board  of  the?  vessels  probably  caused  a 
diminution  of  provisions,  which  prevented  Cabot  from  further 
exploring  the  southern  coast,  for  the  ships  being  furnished 
with  a  year's  supply  it  is  hard  to  understand  how  they 
should  have  run  short  in  three  or  four  months.* 

And  here,  since  we  have  got  back  to  speaking  of  Labrador  a- 
gain,  I  will  give  somewhat  in  detail  the  only  record  which  re- 
mains of  this  voyage  :  and  perhaps  the  reader  will  not  be  sorry 
to  take  a  little  brea,th  after  tlie  tiresome  journey  ho  has  been 
making  amongst  notes  and  discussions.  Moreover  the  brief  epi- 
sode I  shall  relate  belongs  partly  to  the  domain  of  history,  for  it 
was  the  origin  of  the  name  Tierra  de  Bachallaos  being  then 
given  to  what  was  afterwards,  as  it  is  now,  called  Labrador.f 
Peter  Martyr  has  preserved  it  for  us,  and  it  relates  to 
bears'  fishing. 

He  relates,  then,  that  the  place  was  wonderfully  full  of 

*  "  El  Rey.  . .  .embio  cinco  naos  ....  fiieron  pioveydos  por  uu  ano." 

Puebla,  App.   xy. — "fueron  avitallados  pour  ud   ano."  Ayala, 

App.  xvi. 

Andre  Thevet  says  positively  that  Sebastian  Cabot  landed  full  three  hun- 
dred men,  but  they  nearly  all  died  of  the  cold,  although  it  was  in  the  month 
of  July."  Vmy  est,  qu'ilmistbien  trois  cens  hommes  en  terre  du  costed'Irlande 
au  uort  ou  le  froid  list  mourir  presque  toute  sii  compagnie  encore  que  ce  fust 
au  moys  de  juillet".  (  App.  xxiv).  But  his  lestiniony  is  too  open  to  sus- 
picion, for  he  gets  his  information  concerning  Cabot  at  second  hand,  and  it  is 
certainly  not  for  his  care  in  collecting  it  that  ha  merits  praise.  We  hi.ve  an 
immediate  proof  of  this  ia  the  very  surname  of  Cabot  which  he  slmmcfuDy 
distorts  by  calling  him  Babate.  And  here,  without  doubt,  in  speaking  of  the 
attempted  colonization  he  commitJ  tho  mistake  of  taking  for  colonists  tbe 
wholr-  three  hundred  who  sailed  in  tho  ships  of  the  expedition. 

t  Biddle,  on  page  246,  says  that  the  name  of  Labrador  (Laborer)  was  in- 
vented by  Cortereal  and  the  Portuguese  slavo-merchants  to  indicate  that  this 
Northern  coast  produced  men  wonderfully  fitted  for  labor. 


FAILFKE  OF  THE  COLONY. 


109 


bears  that  were  harmless  to  men,  and  tlicy  always  saw  a  num- 
ber of  them  seated  on  the  shore  awaitin^^  game.  The  sea  in 
front  swarmed  with  big  fishes  so  closely  packed  together  that 
at  times  it  was  difficult  for  vessels  to  force  a  way  through  them,* 
and  in  gliding  hither  and  thither  in  their  play  they  some- 
times got  into  shallow  water  near  the  beach.  Then  the 
boars,  wiiich  had  lain  in  wait  on  the  bank  with  an  eye  always 
fixed  on  the  surface  of  the  water,  sprang  into  the  sea.  Their 
sudden  appearance  and  the  splash  in  the  water,  with  their 
furious  bounding  to  one  side  and  the  other,  pu!,  the  happy 
shoal  of  iishes  in  great  trouble  and  disorder.  In  their  confu- 
sion and  anxiety  to  get  into  deep  water,  they  swam  against 
and  interfered  with  each  other,  and  hindered  their  escape,  so 
that  the  bears  were  able  to  pounce  upon  them  and  fix  their 
strong  claws  between  their  scales.  Then  followed  the  strangest 
and  most  beautiful  contest.  The  fish  made  every  effort  to 
free  himself  from  the  clutch  that  held  him  fast,  and  struggling, 
turning,  sliding  in  every  direction,  raised  around  liim  a  cloud 
of  spray,  within  which  in  transparent  coloring  was  seen  the 
enormous  beast  of  a  bear  pulled  this  way  and  that,  now  under 
and  now  above  the  water,  but  always  hanging  on  to  his  prey 
till  the  fish,  his  strength  exhausted,  and  overcome  with  pain, 
gave  up  entirely  and  the  bear's  victory  was  complete.  Then  he 
drew  the  fish  to  the  bank,  where  extended  at  full  ease  on  the 
sand,  he  made  a  most  savory  repast.  Our  navigators  were  pres- 
ent at  one  of  these  contests  and  enjoyed  it  greatly,  and  while  it 
lasted  their  laughter  and  shouts  from  the  ships  made  accom- 
paniment to  the  various  turnings  of  the  battle,  and  hailed 
the  final  triumph. 

The  indigenes,  questioned  by  signs,  made  known  that  they 
called  these  fishes  Baccalao,  and  from  this  word  Cabot  named 
the  hind  in  front  of  him  the  Land  of  tin?  Baccalaos  (Codfish )."t 

*"Ut  etiiim  ill!  navigia  interdum  detiiidaicnt."  Peter  Martyr,  dec.  iii,  lib.  vi. 

f  "Biiciillaos  Cabotliis  ipse  terras  illas  appcllavii,  e(i  qucd  in  e.oruni  prhir/o  t<iH- 
turn  repererit  magnoi'um  quoruvidam  pucium,  tinnos  aemulantium  mr  voeotorum 
abindigenis,  multitudinem,  ut  etiam  illi  aavigia  interdum  retardareut."  Pietro 
Martire,  ib. 


1 

1 


!    i:-- 


'1. 


no 


THE  LIFE  OF  SEBASTIAN  CABOT 


CHAPTER  IX. 

> 

A  Period  of  Obscuriiy- 

The  news  of  the  bad  result  of  the  enterprise  must  have 
been  most  unpleasant  for  the  English,  and  their  dejection 
upon  its  return  equal  to  the  enthusiasm  on  its  departure  the 
year  before.  It  was  like  passing  suddenly  from  the  bright- 
ness of  the  noonday  sun  to  midnight  darkness.  What  a  load 
of  criticism,  ridicule,  and  invective  must  have  been  heaped 
on  the  young  Sebastian,  who  had  succeeded  his  father  in  the 
command  of  the  expedition  !  For,  without  doubt,  those  who 
liad  promoted  and  aided  the  expedition  threw  the  blame  of 
its  want  of  success  on  the  too  great  want  of  age  and  ex- 
perience on  the  part  of  its  leader.  There  must  have  been  great 
lament  for  the  loss  of  John,  whose  bravery  and  experience 
would  in  their  opinion  have  secured  a  happy  issue  of  the 
undertaking.  From  this  general  feeling  the  poor  young 
man's  reputation  must  have  received  a  blow  that  caused  him 
to  disappear  wholly  from  view,  and  fourteen  years  passed  be- 
fore he  reappears  openly  shining  in  the  light  of  day. 

In  the  discourse  of  Sebastian  Cabot  reported  by  Ramusio's 
Anonymous,  he  says  that  upon  returning  to  England,  he 
found  great  commotions  of  the  people  aroused  and  war,  and 
that  there  was  no  further  thought  of  navigating  the  northern 
seas,  and  therefore  he  left  that  country  to  seek  better  fortune 
elsewhere.*  In  those  words  he,  no  doubt,  alludes  to  the  vari- 
ous attempts  of  the  pretended  Duke  of  York  to  wrest  from 
Henry  VII  the  sceptre  lost  by  the  House  whose  name  he  had 
assumed;  to  the  support  which  James  IV  of  Scotland  gave  his 


*  << 


.presi  partito  di  ritoinarm«ne  in  Inghiiterra,  dove  giunto  trovai 
grandissimi  tumulti  di  populi  sullevuii  et  della  guerra  Id  Scotia  . . ."  App.  xix. 


'^■<?>fnHnnp^pnipil| 


1498  TO  1512. 


Ill 


pretensions  in  open  war;  and  to  the  repeated  rising  of  the 
people  in  Cornwall,  driven  to  despair  by  the  excessive  burdens 
imposed  on  them  and  the  cruelty  of  those  who  were  employed 
to  collect  the  payments.*  But  it  was  not  on  his  return  that 
all  these  events  disturbed  England,  nor  were  they  all  at  once  ; 
they  (lid  not  last  long,  and  victory  always  smiled  without 
much  difficulty  on  Henry's  arms.  Fourteen  years  passed  be- 
tween his  return  from  the  voyage  and  his  going  to  Spain,  so 
that  these  disturbances  could  not  be  called  the  direct  cause  of 
his  leaving  England.  Neither  is  it  strictly  true  that  there 
was  no  further  thought  of  navigation  in  search  of  new  lands 
and  seas ;  for  some,  even  though  few,  undertakings  of  this 
nature  are  recorded.  In  Sebastian's  words,  then,  rather  than 
the  expression  of  his  precise  motive,  we  have  the  sad  echo  of 
wliat  in  that  long  interval  passed  in  his  mind,  when  the  idea 
of  discovery  was  greatly  exciting  his  thoughts,  and  he  beheld 
the  possibility  of  carrying  out  his  plans  continually  put  off  by 
the  disorders  that  disturbed  Henry's  reign. 

But  durilig  that  long  period  of  fourteen  years,  did  he  re- 
main a  calm  spectator  of  events,  waiting  patiently  for  times 
more  favorable  to  his  ideas  ?  Even  if  we  were  told  so,  we 
could  not  believe  it.  A  man  who  in  early  youth  had  given 
such  vigorous  proofs  of  activity,  and  whom  again  in  mature 
life,  and  on  to  extreme  old  age,  we  find  most  extraordinarily 
active,  it  is  not  possible  that  in  the  most  vigorous  period  of 
life,  when  even  the  least  inclined  to  work  feel  at  times  the 
desire  and  necessity  of  moving,  acting,  stirring  at  some 
thing,  should  remain  calmly  idle  ;  it  is  contrary  to  nature. 
But  what  did  he  do  ? 

Biddle,  at  this  place,  cites  a  book  of  historical  and  topograph- 
ical notices  of  the  City  of  Bristol,  which,  under  the  year 
1499,  quotes  from  an  old  almanac  of  that  city,  the  following 
passage  :  "This  yeare,  Sebastian  Cabot  borne  in  Bristol,  prof- 
fered his  service  to  King  Henry  for  discovering  new  contries  ; 
which  had  noe  greatc  or  favorable  entertainment  of  the  King,  bv,t 
he  ivith  no  extraordinary  preparation,  set  fort  from  Bristol,  and 

*  Hume's  History  of  England,  cb.  xxv  and  zxvi. 


■i 


'I 


112 


THE  LIFE  OF  SEBASTIAN  CABOT. 


made  greate  discoveries. "*It  is  superfluous  to  remark  how  little 
reliance  can  be  placed  on  the  testimony  of  almanacs;  nor  does 
the  ingenious  American  attach  any  importance  to  it,  in  an 
absolute  way,  especially  as  the  chronicler  shows  clearly  l)y  the 
last  words  that  he  refers  to  one  of  Cabot's  other  voyages  ;  yet 
all  erroneous  as  it  is,  Eiddle  thinks  he  can  obtain  from  it  a 
gleam  of  light  amid  the  obscurity  of  those  years.  Cabot  hud 
broken  off  his  exploration  of  the  American  coast  for  want  of 
provisions;  and  he  must  naturally  have  wished  to  resume  it  at 
the  point  where  he  had  left  off,  until  he  found  the  wished-for 
strait.  It  would  therefore  seem  very  likely  that  he  was  apply- 
ing to  the  King,  proposing  new  plans  for  resuming  the  under- 
taking, and  that  the  King  did  not  look  favorably  on  his  pro- 
posals :  very  likely  that  Cabot  was  treating  not  only  with 
the  crown,  but  with  private  individuals  to  form  a  company 
for  a  new  attempt,  but  found  the  door  shut  on  this  side  also; 
that  then  urged  by  the  interior  force  that  led  him  to  resume 
the  sea,  he  got  together  a  small  expedition  from  his  own 
means,  and  in  some  sort  of  a  vessel  which  he  was  able  to  tit  out, 
rushed  again  into  adventures  on  the  unknown  path  ;  which 
would  very  well  agree  with  what  the  almanac  says  :  "with  no 
extraordinary  preparation  set  forth  from  Bristol." 

This  supposition  corresponds  very  well  with  wliat  Navarrete 
relates  of  Ojeda  :  "It  is  certain  that  on  his  first  voyage  he  found 
some  Englishmen  in  the  vicinity  of  Coquil)acoa."f  Ojeda 
sailed  from  Spain  May  25,  1499,  and  was  absent  only  one 
year.:}:  Therefore  the  dates  of  Cabot's  departure  from  Bristol 
and  Ojeda's  from  Spain  would  very  well  permit  the  meeting; 
mentioned  of  the  English  and  Spaniards.  If  Navarrcte's  in- 
formation is  correct,  there  is  every  probability  that  these  VA\g- 
lish  were  led  by  Sebastian  Cabot  as  the  only  man  in  England 
at  that  time  who  was  capable  of  conducting  such  expedition  : 


*  From  Seycr  "  Memoirs  liistorical  and  Topojirapliical  of  Bristol  and  its 
Neiglil)oinlioi)il,"  p  258.    iiimik',  Memoirs,  Bit.  i,  p.  91,  92. 

f  "  Lo  cierto  es  que  Ilojeda  en  su  primer  viage  liall5  a  ciertos  Inuleses  por 
las  inmediaciones  de  Coqiiibacoa."  Navarrete,  iii,  p.  41,  Coquibacoa  is  on 
tbe  Gulf  of  Maracaibo,  ou  the  uorlberu  coast  of  Venezuela. 

X  Navarrete,  ib. 


OTHER  ENGLISH  VOYAGES. 


113 


this  is  so  true  that  when  two  years  later  a  new  expedition  was 
planut'd  tlie  Portuguese  were  called  on  to  direct  it. 

These  Portuguese  were  three,  John  and  Francis  Fernandes, 
;iu(l  John  Gonsalvez,  gentlemen  from  the  Azores  ;  with  them 
ucro  associated  three  merchants  of  P)ristol,  Richard  Warde, 
Tlionitis  Ashurst,  and  John  Thomas.  Their  patent,  dated 
)hu'ch  11),  1501,  is  suhstantially  the  sanie  as  usually  given 
(or  sucli  undertakings,  and  does  not  require  to  ho  particu- 
hirlv  considered.  Only  one  thing  in  it  is  necessary  to  chserve, 
(his  is  that  the  English  monarch  in  granting  to  the  three 
l'()rtui,niese  a  monopoly  of  trade  with  the  newly-discovered 
nmutries,  covertly,  hut  with  clear  meaning,  refers  to  the  former 
cnncessions  made  to  John  (y'ahot  and  his  sons,  to  deprive 
them  of  all  force  and  authority  contrary  to  the  privileges  now 
ijraiited  ti)  the  three  Portuguese  and  their  associates.  Not- 
withstanding, says  the  decree,  the  pretensions  any  foreigner 
or  foreigners  may  set  up  under  pretext  or  color  of  former 
irraiits.* 

Nothing  is  known,  or  is  for  our  purpose  important  to  know, 
of  the  result  of  their  enterprise.  But  one  should  he  glad  to 
know  the  reason  why  Sebastian  Cabot's  name  is  not  men- 
tioned. Biddle  attributes  it  to  his  heing  absent  on  the 
American  coast,  again  following  up  his  explorations.f  But  if 
ilonry  consented  to  the  request  of  these  Portuguese,  why 
should  ho  not  have  listened  to  Cahot's  ?  It  can  only  be  be- 
cause he  asked  for  aid  as  well  as  authorization  ;  whereas  the 
throe  I'ortuguese  declared  they  assumed  all  the  risk  of  their  un- 
dertaking ;  and  not  only  assured  to  the  Crown  a  portion  of  the 
eventual  profits  of  their  discoveries,  but  agreed  after  ten  years 
to  cede  all  rights  they  might  have  to  them,  and  leave  England 
their  absolute  owner.;}: 


*"Et  quod  nullus  ex  subditis  nostria  eos  eorum  aliqiiem  de  ct  super  posses- 
sioiie  el  titulo  suis  de  et  ex  dictis  terris  flriuis,  insulis  ct  provinciis  se  iiliqimtiter 
oniitra  voluntalein  suiim  expellat  qiiovis  modo  xeu  (diquia  extraneus  aut  aliqui 
'ttmnei  virtute  aut  colore  nlicuitis  concessionin  nostrae  nbi  Magno  Sigillo  Nostra 
V<r  itnlca fnetae."  Rymer,  Foedera,  T.  V.  P.  iv,  p.  186. 

\  Bidille,  1  c.  p.  76. 

{"....  coocessimus  et  licentiam  ilcdimns  ....  Ricaido  Warde,  Tliomae 

8 


M 


%}'■'•, 


114 


THE  LIFE  OF  SEBASTIAN  CABOT. 


Wo  find  another  grant  signed  by  Henry  VII  on  the  0th  of 
December,  1502,  in  favor  of  Hugh  Elliot,  Thomas  Asliurst, 
merchants,  of  Bristol,  and  John  Gonsalvez  and  Francis  Fcr- 
nandes,  Portuguese  ;*  but  we  only  make  this  mention  of  it 
to  prove  that  Sebastian  Cabot's  expression  that  "there  was  no 
further  thought  of  navigating  the  northern  seas"  was  not  cor- 
rect. England  had  her  eye  always  on  the  benefits  to  l)c  pro- 
cured from  these  discoveries  ;  but  Henry's  enormous  avaritt 
prevented  his  taking  a  direct  part  in  them,  though  he  did  not 
refuse  the  work  of  oihers  so  long  as  they  took  all  the  risk';, 
and  divided  the  profits. 

Moreover,  the  connection  between  England  and  tlie  now 
lands  was  never  broken  off.  A  sure  proof  of  this  arc  the 
notes  of  presents  found  from  time  to  time  in  King  Henrv's 
book  of  expenses,  presents  always  worthy  of  his  superlative 
avarice,  but  showing  nevertheless  that  he  paid  some  attention 
to  the  affairs  of  these  new  possessions.  Thus  we  find  on  Jan- 
uary 7,  1502,  a  note  of  the  expense  of  five  pounds  to  somo 
men  from  Bristol  who  went  to  these  places  ;  September  30, 

1503,  thirty  pounds  to  Bristol  merchants  who  had  been  in 
the  same  parts  ;  November  17,  the  same  year,  one  pound  to 
one  who  had  brought  some  hawks  from  there  ;  and  April  8, 

1504,  two  pounds  to  a  priest  going  to  the  New  Land  ;  and 
September  (?)  25,  1505,  five  pounds  sterling  to  some  Portu- 
guese who  had  brought  him  cats  and  popinjays  from  there.f 


Assliiirst,  et  Jobanni  Thomns,  mercntoribus  villiB  nostrae  BrisloUia?  ac  dilcctis 
nobis  Johanni  Ferdinandus,  Francisco  Fernandas,  et  Jobanni  Gunsolus,  ar- 
mifferis  in  insiilis  de  Surrys  sub  obediencia  Regis  Portncalliffi  oriundis .  ... 
nuvigandi  et  se  transf^rendi  ad  omnes  partes  sub  banneris  et  insigniis  nnstris 

nd  cuatus  et  onera  dicti  Ricardi  et  aliorum  prmdietonim,  vadiis  et 

stipendiis  prout  inter  eos  poterunt  concordare  ad  inveniendum."  Rymcr,  ib. 

*  Rymer,  Foedera,  L.  xiii.  p.  37. 

t  "  1502.  Jan.  7.  To  men  of  Bristoll  that  founde  Thisle. . .  .L.  5. 

"  1503.  Sept.  30  To  the  merchants  of  Bristoll  that  ave  bene  in  the  Newefounde 
Launde,  L.  20. 

"  1503.  Nov.  17.  To  one  that  brought  hawkes  from  the  Newfounded  Island, 
IL, 

"  1504.  April  8.  To  a  preste  that  goeth  to  the  new  Ilande,  L.  2. 

"  1505.  Sept.  (?)  25.  To  portyngales  that  brought  popyngais  and  catts  of  the 
inouDtaigDe  with  other  Stuf  to  the  Kiuges  grace,  L.  5." 


B  SM, 


^^^ 


SPAIN  8  JEALOUSY. 


115 


Every  thing,  then,  confirms  what  we  said,  that  Sebastian 
Cabot's  comphiint  is  not  so  much  the  pure  truth  as  the  ex- 
pression of  his  bitter  disappointment  at  the  reception  his  pro- 
posals met  with  ;  a  disappointment  all  the  greater  that  ho 
saw  others,  supplied  with  means  that  were  wanting  to  him, 
freely  passing  over  the  seas  which  he  and  his  father  had  dis- 
covered. 

Under  the  year  1502.  Stow  quotes  from  Fabyan's  chronicle 
as  follows :  "(18  Henr.  VII.  A.  D.  1502).  Thys  yeare,  were 
brought  unto  the  Kyng  three  men  taken  in  the  new  founde  I- 
lands  by  Sebastian  Gahoto  before  named  in  anno  1468  (sic), 
these  men  were  clothed  in  Beastes  skinnes,  and  eat  raw  flesh, 
but  spake  such  a  language  as  no  man  could  understand  them, 
of  the  which  three  men,  two  of  them  were  scene  in  the  King's 
court  at  Westminster  two  years  after,  clothed,  like  Englishmen, 
and  could  not  be  discerned  from  Englisbemen."*  Hakluy  t  also 
speaks  of  these  three  savages  and  quotes  Fabyan's  chron- 
icle, but  does  not  agree  with  Stow  as  to  the  date.  In  the  first 
collection  of  1582,  instead  of  the  18th  year  of  Henry  VII,  he 
has  the  17th.  But  here,  as  Hakluy t  puts  the  date  in  Roman 
numerals,  the  difference  may  have  been  the  fault  of  the  prin- 
ter who  may  have  carelessly  put  XVII  for  XVIII.  But  in 
the  second  edition  of  the  greater  collection,  1599 — 1600,  the 
same  fact  is  related  under  the  14th  year  of  Henry's  reign  ;  and 
if  Stow's  account  is  correct,  we  have  here  another,  and  a  very 
strong  proof  that  Sebastian  Cabot  resumed  his  discoveries  af- 
ter the  expedition  of  1 498.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  Hakluyt's 
correction  in  his  second  collection  is  right,  the  proof  vanishes, 
for  their  coming  would  coincide  exactly  with  the  return  of 
the  expedition  of  1498.  As  we  have  nothing  by  which  to  set- 
tle either  date,  all  that  we  can  do  is  to  mention  the  matter 
and  pass  on. 


Eicfrpta  historica.  Privy  purse  expenses  of  Henry  VII.  p.  126, 130,  131,133. 
*  Stow,  Chronicle,  London,  1580.  p.  875, 


(       } 


■I 


IIH 


THK  LIFE  OF  SEBASTIAN  CABOT. 


Ir.!- 


CHAPTER  X. 

Sebastian  Cabot pnnHcn  to  the  scrmce  of  Spain. 

Spain  watched  the  English  discoveries  with  jealous  eye,  and 
did  her  best  to  put  obstacles  and  impediments  in  tluur  way. 
Whcii  in  July  1500,  Alonzo  de  Ojeda  was  sent  out  as  ( Jovcrnor 
of  Coquibacoa,  the  decree  appoiutiug  him  says  :  "you  will  fol- 
low and  explore  the  coast  you  discovered,  which  runs  appar- 
ently from  east  t)  west,  because  it  extends  to  the  part  where 
it  is  known  that  the  English  have  made  discoveries,  and  you 
are  to  place  marks,  as  you  go,  with  their  Highnesses'  arms 
or  other  known  signs,  as  you  think  best,  to  show  that  you  dis- 
covered that  land,  and  so  cut  oti"  the  English  discoveries  in 
that  direction. "f 

The  great  danger  for  Spain  was  that  England,  besides  ex- 
tending her  discoveries  to  new  lands,  might  succeed  in  finding: 
a  passage  to  Asia  north  of  the  land  already  discovered,  thi()iij;li 
which  most  of  the  benefits  anticipated  from  the  coniiaem' 
with  Cathay  would  be  transferred  to  tlio  English  niiiiket. 
This  danger  was  not  greatly  to  be  feared  during  the  rei^n  of 
Henry  VII,  because  his  extraordinary  penuriousness  left  tlic 
whole  burden  of  these  undertakings  to  the  initiative  of  privatf 
individuals  who  bore  all  the  expense,  and  with  no  other  im- 
pulse they  necessarily  went  on  very  slowly,  and  so  feel)ly  tliiit 
they  were  on  tlie  point  of  expiring.  But  the  miserly  and  vacillat- 
ing Henry  VII  was  succeeded  by  Henry  VIII,  a  munificent  and 

*"Iteni:  que  vaes  n  siyrais  nquolla  costa  que  descubristes  se  cone  leste-viiest, 
segun  paiecii,  por  razoii  que  vnhncut  In  pai-te  donde  se  ha  .sa/ndo  qnv  dL'scuhmn 
lo8  Iiig!ese8  e  vais  poniendo  Itis  marcas  on  las  armas  de  SS.  A.  A.  o  cwi 
otrog  seXiales  que  sean  conocidos,  qnnles  vos  pareciere  :  porque  se  conozcii 
como  vos  habeis  descubierto  aquella  ticrra,  para  que  atages  el  descubrir  delos 
Ingleses  por  aquella  via.  ..."  lS[.i>yarrete,  Tomo  fii,  p.  86. 


irw  AimiVEH  IN  SPAIN. 


117 


bold  young  man  who  found  liiniself  in  possession  of  his  father's 
hoiirdeil  treasures,*  For  the  moment  the  impetuousness 
of  youth  incited  liim  to  mihtary  glory,  and  immediately 
he  took  part  in  the  wars  raging  on  the  Continent,  allying 
liiinsi'lf  with  Ferdinand  King  of  Hpain,  wliose  daughter  he  had 
iiiiurii'd.  Hut  who  can  answer  for  t'he  future?  The  astute  Ferdi- 
(iiiikI  thought  it  hest  to  takestej)s  to  preventdanger  and  while 
tlio  English  Monarch  was  so  well  disposed,  quietly  deprive  him 
of  the  principal  arm  he  might  some  day  use  aguinst  him.  This 
arm  was  Sebastian  Cabot. 

The  alliance  referred  to  between  King  Ferdinand  of  Spain 
and  the  youthful  Henry  VIH  of  England  was  directed  against 
Louis  XII  King  of  F'rance.  By  the  terms  of  the  treaty  con- 
cluded between  the  two  sovereigns  November  7,  1511,  it  was 
a(,'reed  that  the  King  of  England  should  land  6000  men  in 
Aquitiiine,  and  the  Spaniard  towards  the  month  of  April  1512 
should  dispatch  a  fleet  of  forty  sail  to  Southampton  for  trans- 
porting them.f  It  was  so  carried  out.  Lord  Willoughby,  one 
of  the  generals  of  the  expedition,  took  in.  his  train  Sebastian 
Cabot.  We  know  not  in  what  capacity  Cabot  went,  but  from 
all  the  information  we  have,  it  seems  to  mo  very  clear  that 
his  going  to  the  war  was  a  mere  pretext  for  leaving  England 
and  passing  into  Spain  where  King  Ferdinand  had  invited 
hiiH.  That  he  had  not  sought  this  new  service,  but  went  by 
request,  is  expressly  stated  by  Peter  Martyr  D'  Anghiera  and 
Herrera.  Tlie  former  says  :  "He  was  called  from  England 
by  the  Catholic  King  after  the  death  of  Henry  VII,"+  and 


*  Hume  says  of  Henry  VII.  "So  insatiable  was  his  avarice By  all  these 

arts  of  accumuhition  joiaed  to  a  rij^id  frugality  in  liis  expenses,  he  so  filled  his 
cofEcrs.tliat  he  is  said  to  have  possessed  in  ready  money  the  sum  of  one  million 
eight  hundred  thousand  pounds  :  a  treasure  almost  incredible  if  we  consider  the 
scarcity  of  money  in  those  times."  And  in  a  note  :  "  Silver  was,  during  this 
reign, ihirty-seven  shillings  and  sixpence  a  pound, wliich  makes  Henry's  treiusure 
near  three  millions  of  our  present  money."  Tliis  was  noted  by  Hume  in  his  days 
(1711—1776):  but  if  we  consider  the  difference  in  the  value  of  money  since  his 
lime  we  shall  see  that  the  value  of  the  sum  hoarded  by  Henry  VII  was  really 
enormous.    Hume's  Histai'y  of  England,  ch.  xxvi. 

I  See  Bergenroth,  Calendar,  vol.  ii,  N.  .59,  63,  p.  58. 

\  "Familiarem  habeo  domi  Cabotum. . . .  Vocatua  namque ex Bntanuia  arege 


M 


% 


-.1  .'i 


118 


THE  LIFE  OF  SEBASTIAN  CABOT. 


the  latter,  narrating  Ferdinand'sanxietyaVmut  the  newly-dis- 
covered lands,  and  his  cautious  glances  towards  the  ishind  of 
Baccalaos,  and  his  desire  of  gathering  around  him  tli(!  \m[ 
cosraographers  of  the  time,  says  that  these  motives  inducod 
him  to  draw  Sebastian  Cabot  into  his  service,  knowin^^  iii,,, 
to  be  an  expert  man  of  the  sea.*  True,  in  writing  to  Silws- 
tian.  King  Ferdinand  says  :  "You  offered  your  services  ;"f 
but  this  is  merely  a  form  of  chancery,  for  the  purpose  of  keep- 
ing up  the  King's  dignity. 

On  arriving  in  Spain  Sebastian  Cabot  had  a  conference  at 
the  city  of  Burgos,  with  Lope  Conchillos,  secretary  of  (.lnm\ 
Joanna,  and  with  the  Bishop  of  Palencia,  and  the  terms  of  his 
employment  were  therein  settled. ;};  After  that,  Ferdinand 
wrote  the  same  day  to  Lord  Willoughby,  asking  him  to  send 
Sebastian  Cabot  to  him,  as  he  required  to  consult  him  about 
some  matters  relating  to  his  service  ;  and  he  also  wrote  to 
Cabot  himself  inviting  him  to  come  to  him  at  once  at  Logrono, 
where  Ferdinand  then  was.  § 


nottro  Catholko  post  Ilemici  majoris  Britanniac  regis  mortem  concurialis  est." 
Petri  Martyris  de  Anglieriii,  De  Rebus  Oceanieis  et  orbe  novo.  Dec.  iii,  lib.  vi. 

*"Este  (lesseo  de  descuhiir  el  eslreclio,  y  de  tener  el  Rey  en  su  servicio  per 
sonas  platicas  eu  dcscubrimieiitos,  y  afflrmarle  miicliou  Cosmographos  que 
necessariamente  le  avia  de  aver  a  la  parte  de  los  Bacallaos  y  otro  al  occidente ; 
le  movio  a  truer  a  su  servicio  a  Sebastian  Gaboto  Ingles,  por  tener  nolicin  que 
era  experto  liombre  de  mar."  Herrera,  Dec.  i,  lib.  ix,  cap.  xiii. 

•^'Ofrecisteis  servirnos."  See  note  next  but  one. 

XT\\\%  Bishop  of  Palencia  must  have  been  John  Rodrigo  de  Ponseca,  not  yet 
promoted  to  tlie  archbisliopric  of  Rosaao,  who  was  general  superintendent  (if 
the  affairs  of  the  New  World,  and  who  made  himself  notorious  by  his  ill-treat- 
ment ar  !  oppression  of  Christopher  Columbus. 

S  "R.  n  Vlilor  de  Uiibi  Capitan  R.  de  Iiigl.a  He  sabido  que  viene  en  vtra  cnra- 
paiiiii  So'.tastian  Caboto  Ingles,  e  porquc  yo  quiero  saber  del  cosas  de  ntrO  ser- 
vicio, Ic  enbiareis  a  do  estoi."  Logrofio,  13  Set.e  512. 

"Conch  [illo] 

"Obp()[de  Palencia]  (M.S. in  the  Library  of  the  Academy  of  History  at  Madrid. 

Coilec.  Miiiioz,  t.  ex.  fol.  109.) 

y'R.  a  Sebastian  Caboto. 
"Sabeis  que  en  Burgos  os  hablaron  de  mi  parte'Conchillos  1  el  Obp.  de  Pa- 
lencia sobie  la  navegucioii  a  Ins  Biicallos.e  ofrecisteis  servirnos  escribiendo  yo 
a  Milor  de  Uliby,  nirO  Capitan  :  hele  escrito  y  con  su  licencia  veuies,  a  lio 
estoi."  Logrofio,  13  Set.e  512  (lb.  fol.  115). 

The  Spaniards  translating  according  to  sound  the  name  of  Willoughby, made  it 


1512  TO  1515. 


110 


This  concern  on  tho  King's  part  to  write  both  requesta  tho 
saiiiy  day  shows  clearly  that  every  thing  was  settled  upon  he- 
twt'cii  Ciihot  and  the  Spanish  government,  and  tho  conference 
at  Hurgos  was  merely  for  tho  purpose  of  closing  an  agreo- 
mciit  already  made.  Cabot  went  at  once  to  ('astile,  and  Fer- 
ilinanil,  by  decree  of  October  20,  1512,  conferred  on  him  tho 
riink  of  Captain  with  a  salary  of  lifty  thousand  niaravedis 
yearly,  and  assigned  Seville  as  his  residence  while  waiting 
for  orders.  *  The  same  day,  October  20,  tho  King  wrote  to 
liis  ambassador  to  tho  English  government,  ordering  him  to 
assist  Sebastian  Cabot,  his  captain,  who  was  going  to  England 
to  arrange  bis  alfairs  and  bring  away  his  wife  and  family.f 

His  wife  was  called  Catharine  Modrano,  a  Spaniard  it 
would  seem  from  the  name.:}:  From  this  circumstance,  and 
from  tho  fact  that  Peter  Martyr  says  that  Sebastian  Cabot 
was  called  to  Spain  after  tho  death  of  Henry  VII,  who  died 
in  150!),  Harrisse  is  of  the  opinion  that  Sebastian  had  been  in 
Spain  before  1512,  but  without  giving  up  his  English  dom- 
icile, and  that  it  was  then  that  he  married. §  For  my  part, 
I  do  not  regard  the  building  on  the  wife's  name  as  very  con- 
sistent, for  it  may  very  well  have  been  po.ssible  for  Sebastian  to 


Uliby.  Ilerrera  also  calls  biin  the  stime: 

1.  c. 


"El  Rey. . . .  escribio  ii  Milort  Ulibi.". 


♦"Letter  from  King  Ferdinand  to  tlic  Office  at  Seville,  to  which  was  entrusted 
Ibe  maniigement  of  id!  the  affairs  of  the  New  World. 

"R.  a  ofiE.  de  Sevilla. 

"A  Sebastian  Caboto  Ingles  he  echo  merced  de  ntro  Cupitan  de  mar  con  SO, 
OOO  mrs.  de  Salario,  los  que  Ics  pagarcis  aauualm.tc  en  la  forma  acostumbrada. 

"Longroilo,  20  Oct.  e  1513. 

"Conch. 

"Olipo."— Ibidem.— Hcrrera  :  "Bebastiauo  Qaboto  vino  a  Caslilla,  y  el  Rey 
ledio  liiulo  de  su  capitan,  y  buenos  gages,  y  quedu  en  su  servicio,y  le  mandu 
resider  en  Sevilla,  para  le  que  se  ordcnasse."  Herrera,  1.  c. 

f'El  Rey  D.  Luis  Caro  ntrO  Embajador  etc. 

"Sebastiano  Caboto,  ntrO  Gapitan  va  a  poner  recaudo  en  su  hacienda;  a  traer 
su  mujer  i  casa  :  favoreced  su  bueno  y  breve  despacho. 

"Logrniio,  20  oct.e   512.  lb." 

tApp.  XX. 

S"Nous  croyons  .  .  .  .  qu'  entre  les  annfies  1503  et  1509  ou  1512  Cabot,  libre  d' 
engagements  &  I'egard  de  Henri  VII,  visita  I'Espagne  et  s'y  maria  mais  sans 
cesser  d'  avoir  son  domicile  en  Augleterre." 

•leanet  S6bastien  Cabot,  p.  109-110. 


/ 


■  r  'ij^    HI 


120 


THE  LIFE  OP  SEBASTIAN  CABOT. 


•!- 


Iiiivt  • 


meet  a  Spanish  woman  in  England  ;  thus  Christopher  Co- 
himbus  met  Phihppa  Perestrello,  an  Italian,  in  Lisbon,  and 
married  her.  It  is  by  no  means  necessary  to  understand  hv 
Peter  Martyr's  expression  j^od  rnortnn,  the  time  immediattlv 
following  the  deatli  of  Henry  VII. 

From  1512  to  .515  the  only  record  to  be  found  of  Sebastian 
Cabot  is  in  certain  schedules  of  payment  of  salary,  which  l)y 
the  King's  order  was  paid  him  in  full  without  any  deduction 
for  the  time  he  spent  in  England  on  his  own  aifairs.* 

In  1515  Peter  Martyr  in  speaking  of  him,  mentions  the 
friendship  he  had  with  him,  and  the  hospitality  which 
he  often  extended  to  him  in  his  own  house.  He  calls  him  also 
his  Concnrialis,  and  as  Peter  Martyr  wrs  a  member  of  the 
Supreme  Council  of  the  Indies,  Eden,  as  we  have  seen,  inter- 
prets that  word  to  mean  that  Sebastian  was  also  a  member  of 
the  council,  and  many  others  have  repeated  it  after  liim.f  But 
the  fact  is  that  Herrera  gives  a  list  of  all  the  members  of  that 
council,  and  in  it  we  find  Peter  Martyr,  but  no  Sebastian 
Cabot.  :j:  The  proper  translation  of  the  word  is,  therefore,  that 
given  by  Avezac,  namely,  that  concarialis  means  *is  here  with 
me  at  court.  "§ 

From  Peter  Martyr's  words  it  seems  that  Sebastian  Cabot 
was  surrounded  in  Spain  by  a  strong  circle  of  rivals  who  tried 
to  detract  from  his  reputation  and  sap  the  foundation  of  his 
greatness.  J  This  was  very  natural.  Among  those  Spanish  sea- 
men were  some  who  liad  accompanied  the  discoverer  of  the 
New  World  on  his  voyages  ;  there  were  the  companions 
of  Alonzode  Ojeda,  of  Yanez  Piiizon,  of  John  delaCosa;and 
they  must  all  have  felt  humiliated  that  a  foreigner,  a  perfect 
stranger  to  Spanish  navigations,  should  place  liimself  at  their 
side  and  take  precedence  over  many  of  them.     But  the  hij-h 

"  Sec  App.  xvii. 

t  In  liis  Ininslation  of  the  first  three  Decndes  of  Anghiera,  1555. 

X  This  list  is  found  at  the  bottom  of  his  DtMription  of  the  Kdst  Indicx. 

S  In  the  Revue  Ciliique  d'  Ilistoirc  ct  dc  Litlcniture,  Premier  Suinestrc, 
1870,  p.  205. 

I  "Ex  Castellanis  non  desuntqui  Cubolum  primum  fuissc  BuccaloruLn  repcr- 
Inrem  necant,  taiitumque  ad  Occidentem  telendisse  miuiine  aflsentiuutiir,"  P. 
M.  d'Anghiern,  1.  c. 


PEATTI  or  KINO  FERniNAND. 


121 


position  in  wliich  we  liiul  him  in  1515,  shows  that  he  had 
c'omo  out  triumphantly  over  all  and  every  thing.  In  that 
year  Herrora  names  him  as  a  member  of  a  commission 
(•liar?o(l  with  revising  iind  correcting  all  the  maps  and  charts 
used  in  Spanish  navigation,  a  duty  of  the  greatest  im- 
portance and  delicacy  at  a  time  when  the  principal  activity 
of  Spain  was  directed  to  navigation  and  discovery.* 

Under  the  same  year,  Peter  Martyr's  history  relates  that  an 
expedition  was  planned  for  the  next  year  to  make  further  ex- 
plorations and  discoveries,  and  that  Cabot  was  to  be  at  its 
liead.f  In  fact,  in  the  book  of  accounts  of  the  Treasury  at  the 
House  at  Seville,  is  a  note  of  a  payment  to  Sebastian  Cabot  for 
<,foing  to  court  to  confer  with  Their  ]\Iajesties  concerning  a 
voyage  of  discovery  which  he  was  to  undertake.;};  But  while 
they  were  making  preparations,  King  Ferdinand  died,  Janu- 
ary 23,  1516. 


-1 


CHAPTER  XL 

Sebastian  Cabot  back  in  England. 

The  governments  of  those  days,  all  centring  in  the  life  of 
the  sovereign,  always  received  a  severe  shock  when  he  died, 
and  tlic  whole  machinery  of  the  public  business  felt  its  effects 
ill  a  greater  or  less  degree.  In  this  oscillation  there  was  al- 
ways a  period  of  uncertainty,  of  doubt,  in  the  whole  civil  ad- 
ministration until  the  new  sovereign  had  declared  his  views 


*"...— poiquc  las  cartas  de  niarcar  de  Casti'la  no  pareva  quo estavan 

con  formes,  los  oficialcs  de  la  casa  de  Ht-villa  suplicaron  al  Rey  les  dlcsse 
licLMicia  puia  liazer  sobrc  ello  junta  de  Pilotos  y  coiregir  las  cartas.  El  Rey  lo 
liivd  por  hicii  .  .  .  .  y  para  la  juntii  (jue  sc  avia  de  liazer,  ordeuo  Qik^  se  bus- 
ciisscn  losmeiores  Cosinoirrafos  y  I'ilolos  :  muudo  a  .  .  .  .  asentar  el  salariode 
Ciipitiin  y  Cosmografo  n  Sebastian  Caboto,  elc."  Dec.  ii,  lib.  i,  cap.  xii. 

t  "Hcbaslianua  Cabotus  .  .  .  expectat  in  dies  ut  iiavisria  sibi  parentur,  quibus 
arciimim  hoc  naturre  lalcns  iam  tandem  deteeatur.  Maitio  nieuse  auui  futuri 
MDXVI  puto  ad  exploraudum  discessurum."  1.  c. 

As  to  arcanum  boc  naturtc  lalens.    See  note  at  that  place  in  App.  xvlil. 

t  Sec  App.  xvii.  A. 


M' 


122 


THE  LIFE  OF  SEBASTIAN  CABOT. 


of  the  direction  ho  wished  to  give  to  the  machinery  of  the 
government.  The  internal  and  external  relations  of  the  Kinj;- 
dom  of  Spain  and  the  different  characters  of  the  former  ami 
present  sovereign  rendered   this  period  of  uncertainty  ami 
doubt  unusually  full  of  anxiety  and  danger.  Spain  was  a 
kingdom  of  recent  formation,  and  with  the  new   King  made 
its  first   experiment  of  trusting  its  united  destinies  to  the 
hands  of  a  single  sovereign.      Externally  Spanish  honor  was 
pledged  in  many  and  distant  wars  and  their  fortunate  issue 
was  not  so  nmch  hoped  for  from  their  own  forces  and  treasure, 
as  from  the  prudence  of  Ferdinand  and  the  confidence  in  him- 
self which  he  had  inspired  in  nearly  every  court.  Ho  was 
born  and  bred  and  lived  in  Spain  and  for  Spain,  and  associated 
with  the  heroic  Isabella  in  the  glory  of  having  given  national 
unity  to  the  country.       On  the  other  hand,  Charles,  his  suc- 
cessor, was  young,  only  known  to  Spaniajv'   b^        ne,  born  and 
bred  an  Austrian,  with  his  affections  mucii  more  set  on  liis 
paternal  domains  than  on  the  rich  inheritance  of  his  grand- 
father. The  suspense  of  mind  was  consequently  greater  in  the 
beginning  of  the  new  reign  than  on  other  like  occasions,  and 
the  preparations  for  Sebastian  Cabot's  contemplated  expedi- 
tion as  well  as  many  other  matters  were  put  aside. 

During  this  period,  which  naturally  had  special  causes  of 
anxiety  for  Cabot,  an  opportunity  was  presented  for  him  to 
return  again  to  the  frosts  of  the  North  in  the  service  of 
England  for  anew  expedition  in  search  of  the  longed-for  pas- 
sage to  Cathay  by  the  north-west.  But  as  his  servic^^^  <  ii]y 
lasted  during  this  expedition,  and  after  that  we  ap  -^"1 
him  at  his  accustomed  duties  in  Spain,  we  must  pre'^i  .ui 
lie  had  a  special  permission  for  his  absence  from  the  Spi '  "f 
government.  How  he  came  to  be  called  to  England,  and 
on  what  terms,  and  who  was  promoting  the  expedition,  all 
is  dark  to  us.  The  grants  already  mentioned  from  the  King 
of  England  to  the  three  Portuguese  merely  contemplated  new 
explorations  and  discoveries  in  the  regions  already  discovered. 
Nowhere  does  it  appear  that  any  one  had  proposed  to  resume 
the  bold  idea  of  the  Cabots  of  opening  a  passaj^.  •  to  the 
eastern  lands  of  Cathay  across  the  lands  discovo.  \.  in  the 


mmmi 


VOYAGE  OF  1516. 


123 


northern  seas  to  the  westward.  But  on  September  25,  1513, 
Vasco  Nufiez  de  Balboa  crossing  from  Darien  the  cloven 
heights  of  the  Cordillera,  from  the  tops  of  those  mountains  dis- 
covered the  Great  Ocean,  and  settled  the  question  that  the 
lands  of  America  were  isolated.*  This  fact  puts  Cabot's  plan 
in  a  new  light,  and  the  search  after  a  passage  to  the  eastern 
lands  of  Asia  acquired  the  same  importance  as  the  first  voy- 
ages of  discovery  in  the  New  World.  As  the  matter  was  of  the 
greatest  interest  for  the  future  of  England,  Cabot's  idea  was 
taken  up  again,  and  an  expedition  got  together  for  a  new 
and  more  determined  experiment.  Sebastian  Cabot  was 
called  n{)on  to  direct  it  in  the  character  of  pilot. f 

Of  all  tlie  losses  we  have  to  lament  in  his  life  this  is  the 
most  deplorable,  that  nothing  is  left  concerning  this  voyage 
which  from  many  indications  appears  to  have  been  most  im- 
portant under  every  aspect.  It  is  only  by  chance  that  with 
much  labor  we  have  been  able  to  make  sure  of  its  existence. 
Richard  Eden,  the  personal  friend  of  Sebastian  Cabot,  is  the 
only  one  to  make  direct  and  clear  mention  of  it.  In  1553,  dur- 
ing the  life-time  of  Sebastian,  Eden  printed  at  London  a  transla- 
tion of  the  Universal  CoHmogrophy  of  Sebastian  Munster,  and 
in  the  dedication  to  the  Duke  of  Northumberland,  complain- 
ing of  the  neglect  into  which  navigation,  and  discovery  had 
fallen,  he  writes  these  words  :  "If  it  (manly  courage)  had  not 
been  wanting  in  other  in  these  our  dayes  at  such  time  as  our 
Sovereigne  Lord  of  noble  memory.  King  Henry  the  Eighth,  a- 


* Heirera,  Dec.  i,  lib.  x,  cnp.  i. 

t  Oviedo,  in  the  13tli  chapter  of  tlic  XIX  Bonk  of  his  history,  relates  that  an 
Endi-il.  vessel  coming  from  the  nciulihoiliood  of  Brazil  appeared  at  tlie  har- 
bor of  San  Domingo  in  the  island  of  Ilispuniola,  and  requested  license  to  enter 
tiieie  for  the  purpose  of  trading;  Uiat  the  comandant  of  the  fort  being  sus- 
liicioiis  opened  Are  on  it,  and  the  Englisli  retired  in  fear  and  went  to  the  island 
if  St.  Joiin  for  supplies,  complaining  loudly  of  their  treatment,  and  protesting 
Hint  they  came  with  fair  intentions  of  tnifflcking  and  nothing  else. 

The  fact  occurred  in  1527,  liul  ILikluyt  erroncou.sly  puts  it  in  1517,  and 
so  l)(;iieves  Unit  tlie  ves.spl  whs  commnnded  hy  Si^tinstian  Cabot,  and  makes 
one  of  liis  expeditions  take  place  in  1517  to  tlio  vicinity  of  Brazil.  Purchas 
{lygrims,  vol.  iv,  p.  1813),  Ral)ertsoii  in  his  History  of  America  (Book 
'").  Lardner  in  his  Cyclopaedia  (vol.  ii,  p.  138),  and  others  have  fallen  into 
the  same  error. 


I       «  • 


H 


124 


THE  LIFE  OP  SEBASTIAN  CABOT. 


bout  the  same  (eighth )yere  of  his  raygne,  furnished  and  setforlh, 
cnrtcn  shippcs  under  the  governauncc  of  Sebastian  Cahot  yd  liiuun 
and  one  sir  Thomas  Parte,  whose  fayant  heart  "was  the  cause 
that  that  viage  to/ce  none  effect ;  if  (I  say)  such  manly  courajje 
whereof  we  have  spoken  had  not  at  that  tyme  bene  wanting,  it 
myghte  happelye  have  come  to  passe  that  rich  treasurye  called 
P\^rularia  (which  is  now  in  Spayne,  in  the  citie  of  Civile 
and  so  named,  for  that  in  it  is  kepte  the  infinite  ryches  ])r(nij,'lit 
thither  from  tlie  nevvefoundland  of  Peru)  myght  lon<re  since 
have  bene  in  the  Tower  of  London,  to  the  Kinges  groat  lion- 
ure  and  welth  of  tliis  his  realrae."* 

Henry  VIII  having  ascended  the  throne  April  22,  1509, 
the  eighth  year  of  his  reign  strictly  speaking  is  from  April 
22,  1510  to  April  22,  1517.  But  in  a  broader  sense  we  may 
mean  1509  by  the  first  year  of  his  reign,  and  1510  by  the  sec- 
ond, and  so  on  :  which  would  make  the  eighth  year  coincide 
with  1516.  Some  writers  have  followed  one,  some  the  other  in- 
terpretation; and  whichever  is  followed  makes  no  substantial 
difference  in  the  narrative.  I  incline  to  the  second,  which 
keeps  us  within  the  year  1516  ;  because  it  seems  to  me  more 
natural  that  Cabot's  departure  from  Spain  should  have  oc- 
curred within  the  first  months  after  Ferdinand's  death,  Justin 
that  period  of  uncertainty  and  doubt  we  have  spoken  ot^  be- 
fore the  new  sovereign  has  shown  the  direction  he  intends  to 
give  to  the  machinery  of  government. 

As  to  Pcrularia,  -..o  easily  recognize  under  this  name  the 
immense  treasures  which  Spain  in  those  times  drew  from  Teru, 
and  which  fancy  made  even  greater  than  they  were,  though 
they  were  great  enough  in  reality. 

'J'his  is  the  only  direct  notice  we  have  of  this  new  expedi- 
tion, but  other  indirect  notices,  and  very  clear  ones,  conlirni 
and  extend  the  acrnunt  given  by  Eden. 

Robert  Thorne,  a  rich  English  merchant  settled  in  Seville, 
wlio  watched  with  great  interest  the  march  of  discovery,  anx- 
ious that  his  country  should  also  enter  fully  and  effectually 
on  this  glorious  path,  wrote  in  1527  a  memorial  to  Henry 


A  Treatise  of  the  New  India,  Load.  1553. 


^mmm 


VOYAGE  OF  151 G. 


125 


VIII  to  urge  that  monarcli  to  seek  a  passa^c^e  by  the  north  to 
reach  the  regions  of  Cathay.*  He  aeconipanied  this  hotter 
with  another  to  Dr.  Edward  Leigli,  ambassador  of  Henry  VIII 
to  Charles  V  in  Spain.  In  the  letter  to  Leigh  he  exphiins 
why  ho  takes  so  lively  an  interest  in  the  search  for  that  pas- 
sage by  tlie  northern  seas.  "  I  reason  that  as  some  sick- 
nesses are  hereditarious,  and  come  from  the  father  to  the 
Sonne,  fio  this  inclination  or  desire  of  this  discovcrie  I  in- 
herited of  my  father,  which  with  another  marchant  of 
Ikistow  named  Hugh  Eliot,  were  the  discoverers  of  the  New- 
found-Lands ;f  of  the  which  there  is  no  doubt  (as  nowe 
plainly  appeareth)  if  the  mariners  would  then  have  bene 
ruled  and  followed  their  Pilot's  minde,  the  lands  of  the  West 
Indies  (from  whence  all  the  gold  commeth,)  had  bene  ours. 
For  all  is  one  coast,  as  by  the  card  ap])eareth,  and  is 
aforosayd."  X  There  are  three  ways  proposed  by  Thorns 
to  the  King  for  opening  this  passage  ;  one  would  run 
brliind  the  new  land  he  speaks  of  in  his  letter  to  Leigh. 
Ilis  words  are  :  "And  if  they  (our  sailors)  will  take  their 
course  after  they  be  pa.st  the  Pole,  toward  the  west,  they  shall 
ff>  in  the  backside  of  the  Newfoundland,  which  of  late  was 
dixovcrcd  by  your  Grace^s  sn,bjects,  until  they  come  to  the  back- 
side and  south  seas  of  the  Indies  Occidental.  "§ 

The  expression,  of  late,  applied  to  the  new  discovery,  assures 
us  that  Newfoundland  seen  in  1497,  is  not  referred  to,  foi  the 
loiijf  time  that  had  elapsed,  and  the  numerous  voyages  tliitlier, 
would  make  the  expression  entirely  out  of  place  ;  whereas 
only  fourteen  years  had  passed  .since  the  expedition  of  1510, 
and  as  it  pushed  northwards   to  an  altitude    never    before 


*riakliiyt,,  vol.i.  p.  235. 

t  III.  p.  2;J7.  Rymer  in  his  Fnedc-a,  vol.  xiii,  p.  37,  reports  n  roynl  piitent 
for  a  new  e.xpudiiion,  DecemhiT  9,  1503,  in  wliich  the  name  oi'  Hugh  Eliot  is 
joined  with  that  of  Thomas  Ashehurst  hikI  not  witli  Nicholas  Thome's.  Hence 
WL'  m\m  either  admit  another  pntent  whicli  we  know  no<hiiiir  of,  or  more  proh- 
iilily  suppose  witli  Biddle  that  Thorne  bouL'lit  from  Ashclmr.st  or  liis  heirs  his 
share  in  the  privileges  of  the  expedition.  Memoir,  ch.  xiii,  pp.  107,  108. 

t  He  means  the  chart  wliioh  Tliorne  enclosed  with  the  letter  to  explain  and 
prove  Ids  plan.      Ilakhiyt,  i.  243. 

S  llakluyt,  ib.  p.  237. 


126 


THE  LIFE  OF  SEBASTIAN  CABOT. 


I!  1  ■  ■■■" 


m  i 

t  ■■ 

f' 

\h 

reached,  the  name  of  Newfoundland  belongs  more  an- 
propriately  to  the  regions  then  seen  for  the  first  time.  And  that 
the  Newfoundland  was  seen  on  Cabot's  expedition  of  1516 ^e 
know  from  the  circumstance  of  the  revolt  of  the  crews,  wlmli 
is  likewise  told  by  Eden,  and  is  found  in  all  the  other  ac- 
counts referring  to  the  same  expedition. 

This  voyage  is  told  of  with  additional  and  more  particular 
details,  but  without  any  date  given,  in  a  legend  on  one  of (> 
bot's  charts  preserved  in  the  private  royal  gallery  at  White- 
hall  in  Westminster,  as  we  are  informed  by  Sir  Humphnv 
Gilbert,  himself  a  distinguished  navigator,  and  who  in  liis 
youth  may  have  seen  and  known  the  great  Venetian  person- 
ally.* These  are  Humphrey's  words  :  "  Sebastian  Cahota. ... 
in  his  charts  which  ai-e  yet  to  be  scene  in  the  (^itwu's 
Majesty's  Privie  Gallerie  at  Whitehall  ....  aftinuo  tliat 
he  sayled  very  farre  westward  with  a  quarter  of  the  North, 
on  the  North  side  of  Terra  de  Labrador  the  elevcntli  of 
June,  until  he  came  to  the  septentrionall  latitude  of  0" 
degrees  and  a-halfe,  and  finding  the  seas  still  open,  sayd 
that  he  might  and  would  have  gone  to  Cataia,  if  the  mutinit 
q{  the  Master  and  Mariners  had  not  bene."f 

Cabot  himself  wrote  to  Jerome  Ramusio  the  same  details 
as  those  on  the  chart,  as  the  latter  relates  in  his  dedicatnrv 
letter  to  the  celebrated  Fracastoro,  prefixed  to  the  third  vol- 
ume of  his  great  collection.  Ramusio  speaking  of  New  France. 
as  it  was  called  then,  or  ('anada  as  it  is  now,  says  :  "We  arc 
not  yet  (1553)  sure  whether  that  land  is  joined  on  to  the 
mainland  of  the  province  of  Florida  and  New  Spain,  or  is  all 
divided  into  islands.  And  if  by  that  way  it  is  possible  to  go 
to  Cathay,  as  was  written  many  years  ago  by  Signer  Se- 
bastian Cabot,  our  Venetian,  a  man  of  great  experience  and 
rare  in  the  art  of  navigation  and  science  of  cosmography  :  he 
had  sailed  above  this  land  of  New   France  at  the  expense  of 

*  He  lived  from  1539  to  li)84,  and  won  grent  lepvitatlon  in  hia  searcli  fnra 
passage  to  Catliay  by  tlie  nortlicast  of  Europe.  Tlie  story  of  his  voyai'cwas 
originally  publislied  in  1570,  and  republished,  but  in  a  mutiluted  form,  by  Ilak- 
luyt. 
"t  Hakluyt,|;vol.  iii,  p.  88, 


m 


DISCOVERY  OF  HUDSON  STRAIT. 


127 


King  Henry  VTT  of  England,  and  he  told  me  that  liavinji; 
(rone  a  long  distance  towards  the  west  and  a  quarter  to  the 
north-west  behind  these  islands  situated  along  the  said  land, 
as  far  as  sixty -seven  and  a  half  degrees  under  our  pole,  on 
the  11th  of  June,  and  finding  the  sea  open  and  without  iin- 
iicdimont,  he  firmly  believed  he  could  pass  by  that  way  tow- 
ards eastern  Cathay,  and  would  have  done  so  if  the  wnlke  oj 
Ihe  master  and  insurgent  mariners  had  not  forced  him  to  turn 
hack."  * 

As  to  the  height  of  latitude  reached,  Martin  Frol)isher 
put  it  at  67  degrees,f  Herrera  68. :j:  But  this  dift'erence  not  only 
is  slight,  but  the  mean  between  them  exactly  agrees  with 
Ramusio,  who  says  67°,  30'. 

It  is  an  exaggerated  scruple  on  the  part  of  Erizzo  Minis- 
calchi  that  contrary  to  the  full  agro  ment  of  these  witnesses, 
makes  him  loath  to  admit  this  voyage  of  Cabot's  for  the  sole 
reason  that  he  was  not  at  its  head,  but  only  held  the  office  of 
Pilot ;  regarding  it  as  unbecoming  and  inadmissible  that 
after  holding  the  first  rank  in  other  navigations,  he  should 
in  this  have  accepted  a  secondary  part.§  In  allowing  him- 
self to  be  affected  by  this  scruple,  he  forgets  with  what 
strength  an  idea  rooted  for  years  in  a  man's  mind,  and 
strengthened  by  long  study  and  meditation,  gains  absolute 
dominion  over  his  thoughts  and  forces  the  will  and  self-love  to 
bend  in  order  to  gain  the  desired  triumpli.  What  though  Cabot 
had  over  his  head  the  person  of  Thomas  Pert,  officers  and  sail- 
ors knew  that  not  Pert  but  he  was  the  Pharos  of  the  expedition 

*  As  to  the  uncertainty  expressed  by  Ramusio  wh'tlier  Now  Prance  was  all 
a  continuous  land  with  Florida  and  New  Spain  (Mexico),  it  should  be  remem- 
bered that  John  de  la  Cosa  in  his  famous  chart  of  1500  makes  the  land  contin- 
uous from  the  coast  of  Labrador  to  south  of  the  equatorial  line.  John  Sduiner, 
on  the  contrary,  in  his  of  1520,  divides  Norlh  and  Central  America  into  two 
parts.  As  to  what  is  mentioned  here  about  Henry  VII,  we  shall  recur  to  it  i.- 
the  Xllchiipter  where  the  same  matter  is  repented  by  another  writer. 

f'lfind  that  Gabota  was  the  first,  in  Kinjr  H.-nry  VII's  days,  that  discovered 
this  frozen  land  or  seas  from  sixty-seven  towards  the  North  and  from  thence 
towards  the  South,  alone;  the  coast  of  America  to  30  decrees  and  a  half,  etc." 
Ki'porU'of  Voyage  to  Meta  Incognita  eic.  By  Thomas  Churchyard,  Hakluyt,  iil. 
38. 

{Hpci,  lib.  vi,  cap.  16. 

S  Erizzo  Miniscalchi,  '%e  Scoperto  Artiche"  p.  131,  note.     .■        ' 


*,    \ 


t 


12,S 


THE  LIFE  OF  SEP.ASTIAN  CABOT. 


i,t:  ■  ■,;■ 


i.-  i' 


1 

1 

1 

N 

■I  ^ 

:« 

"1 

'I  r 

i 


and  to  him  they  looked  for  light  amid  the  darkness  of  the 
way.  And  if  they  had  succeeded  in  gloriously  carrying  out 
their  purpose,  it  certainly  would  not  be  on  Pert's  forejioad 
that  public  opinion  would  have  placed  the  triumphal  ctowh, 
And  besides,  in  the  maritime  enterprises  of  those  days  instfui- 
ces  often  occurred  where  men  of  great  worth  and  reputation  uc. 
cepted  a  .secondary  part  that  they  might  liave  some  sliiirc  in 
the  expedition  :  as  John  de  la  Cosa  in  those  of  Alon/.o  dc 
Ojeda  and  Rodrigo  de  Bastidas  ;  Americus  Vespucci  in  nil 
four  of  his  voyages  ;  William  Barentz  in  the  expedition nf 
151)G  led  by  Ileemcskerck  ;  AVilliam  Baffin  in  that  of  KiK;  dj. 
rected  by  Robert  By  lot.  ""  Only  too  frequently  were  tlioj^on- 
ius  and  the  means  to  lead  an  expedition  in  open  oppowtion 
one  to  another,  and  in  such  cases  genius  must  yield  to  the  ^vill 
and  sometimes  arrogance  of  tlie  one  who  puts  out  the 
money,  reserving  for  its  own  reward  the  satisfaction  of  l)oin^' 
the  real  head  of  the  expedition.  But  history  did  justice,  uiul 
the  bay  discovered  by  the  expedition  of  1616  was  named 
after  the  pilot  Baffin,  not  the  commander  Bylot. 


CPIAPTER  XII. 


Sebastian    Cabot   discovered   ike   drait   and   bay   which  icm 
afterwards  natnedfrovi  Hudson. 

What  was  the  place  in  latitude  sixty-seven-and-a-half 
degrees,  where  Sebastian  Cabot  was  compelled  by  the  fear  of 
his  companions  to  go  back  ?  We  have  no  direct  information 
from  any  quarter,  but  by  putting  together  various  other  facts 
we  may  be  able  to  throw  some  light  on  our  subject. 

The  fourth  expedition,  like  the  third,  aimed  at  finding  a 
passage  to  the  eastern  coasts  of  Asia  ;  where  would  it  jjotn 
look  for  it  ?  Certainly  not  to  the  place  already  explored  and 

*L.  Huguezin  the  "Memoric  della  SDcietil  Geografica  Italiiina,"  vol,  i,  parte 
Hi. 


u 


^•^^••^mm 


DISCOVERY  OF  HUDSON  STUAIT. 


120 


uliifli  had  given  a  negative  answer  to  previous  researches. 
The  southom  part  of  America  to  the  mouth  of  the  Rio  do  la 
I'hita  had  hccn  passed  by  Spanish  and  Portuguese  ships  ;  the 
(tutrul  liad  hocn  explored  by  the  Spanitxrds  from  the  days  of 
(linstopiior  Columbus  ;  the  northern  from  the  coasts  of  Labra- 
dor to  Chesapeake  Bay  had  been  visited  by  Sebastian  Cabot 
himself,  in  1498.  All  that  remained,  then,  to  explore  was  the 
sdutliorn  extremity  and  the  region  north  of  Labrador.  The 
rditii^^iiose  and  Spanish  vessels  were  busy  exploring  and  cx- 
iiiiiiiiing  to  the  south,  and  besides  it  was  too  far  out  of  the 
iriwh  of  England  ;  therefore  the  new  English  expedition  had 
no  way  left  for  it  to  take  but  to  push  its  explorations  to  the 
iiortli  of  Labrador.  It  could  not,  however,  go  too  far  north, 
for  in  the  previous  voyage  of  1498  they  saw  there  was  land 
in  that  direction  and  that  it  trended  to  the  north-east.  There- 
fore the  course  of  Sebastian  Cabot  was  designated  right  to 
the  north-west,  to  the  broad  opening  between  Labrador  and 
Greenland,  the  precise  portion  still  unexplored,  for  as  we  said 
in  its  proper  placo,  from  the  parallel  of  66°  where  he 
readied  the  coast  of  Greenland,  he  sailed  right  down  to  the 
coast  of  Labrador,  without  taking  notice  of  the  wide  gulf  ho 
left  on  his  right.  But  as  the  English  afterwards  often  re- 
turned to  the  land  of  Labrador,  it  was  very  easy  to  ascertain 
that  it  extended  far  back  in  the  sea  towards  the  north-west. 

Entering  that  gulf,  is  it  more  probable  that  he  passed 
througii  Davis  Strait  or  the  smaller  strait  of  Hudson  ?  The 
question  is  equivalent  to  this  ;  what  is  more  likely  than  tliat 
Cabot  continued  at  hazard  on  the  open  sea  and  kept  along  the 
coast  of  Labrador,  following  every  bend  it  makes,  towards 
the  places  where  he  wanted  to  arrive?  To  the  question  in  this 
forni,  it  seems  to  me,  there  can  be  but  one  answer.  His 
'ourse  from  England  was  therefore  straight  for  the  land  of 
Labrador,  at  the  point  where  his  previous  exploration  ended, 
and  then  taking  the  coast  for  his  guide,  he  came  to  Cape 
'hudleigh  where  the  land  turns,  and  he  turned  with  it,  and 
!?o  found  himself  sailing  m  that  strait  which  was  afterwards 
named  from  Hudson. 

Let  us  now  see  how  the  few  indications  which  have  been 

9 


,   1 


1 

■ 

ir 

•  ». 


1.30 


THE  LIFE  OF  SEBASTIAN  CABOT. 


left  US  agree  with  these  probahlo  and  natural  suppositions 
of  the  itinerary  of  the  fourth  expedition. 

After  Sebastian  Cabot's  death  repeated  attempts  were  made 
to  find  a  passage  to  Asia  by  the  no"th  of  America  and 
as  is  natural,  his  previous  voyages  served  as  the  rule 
and  guide  of  those  who  wanted  to  continue  his  work  :  and  Ids 
not  having  succeeded  was  the  main  argument  in  opposition 
to  prove  that  it  was  idle  to  renew  the  attempt.  The  first  tn 
come  forward  with  great  courage  and  tenacity  to  resume  tlu 
work  of  Sebastian  Cabot  was  Martin  Frobisher  who  gave  Ids 
name  to  one  of  the  bays  opening  on  the  eastern  coast  of  Cum- 
berland. A  great  contest  occurred  over  his  project,  for 
and  against  it,  but  the  victory  remained  with  those  in  its 
favor.  Among  its  most  ardent  supporters  was  Humphrey  Gil- 
bert whose  name  was  afterwards  distinguished  anionjf  the 
most  honored  in  the  noble  band  of  discoverers.  He  had  made 
special  studies  on  this  subject,  and  a  certain  George  Gascoignc, 
a  relative  of  Frobisher's,  knowing  this,  requested  him  to 
show  Frobisher  what  ho  had  collected  so  as  to  derive  from  it 
advice  and  rules  for  his  voyage.  Humphrey  complied,  and 
Gascoigne  printed  and  published  the  information  thus 
obtained  on  the  12th  of  April  157C,  two  months  before  Frob- 
isher started  on  his  voyage.  Gascoigne  himself  tells  us  all  this 
in  the  Preface.*  Here,  for  the  purpose  of  proving  that 
the  north  of  America  is  not  a  continuous  land,  but  that  there 
is  an  opening  there  by  which  a  passage  is  given  to  the  east- 
ern* lands  of  Asia,  we  read  the  following  passage,  a  part 
of  which  we  have  already  given,  but  the  whole  is  inserted 
here  for  greater  clearness.  "  Furthermore  Sebastian  Cabota 


*"Novvit  happened  that  myself  being  one(ainong8t  many)beholden  tothesaid 
sir  Humphrey  Gilbert  for  sundry  courtesies,  did  come  to  visit  him  inthewD- 
ter  last  past,  at  his  house  in  Limehouse,  and  being  very  bold  to  demand  of 
him,  how  he  spent  his  time  in  this  loitering  vacation  from  martial  stratagems, 
lie  courteously  took  me  into  his  study,  and  there  showed  me  sundry  proliiaWe 
and  very  commendable  exercises  whicli  be  had  perfected  painfully  witli  liisown 
pen,  and  amongst  the  rest  this  present  discovery.  The  which,  as  well  lieciuisc 
it  was  not  long,  as  also,  because,  lunderstood  that  M.  Forboiser,  a  Kins-mm  aj 
mine,  did  pretend  to  travel  in  the  same  discovery,  I  craved  it  at  the  said  sir 
Humphrey's  hand  for  two  oi  three  days."  Biddle,  Memoir,  bk.  ii.ch.  xiii. 


DATE  OF  THIS  DISCOVERY. 


131 


hii  hix  penonal  cxpcricri.cc  and  travel  hath  act  /north,  a,nd  dcHcrihcd 
Ihls  paHHnfjc  in  his  charts  which  are  yot  to  bo  seono  in  the 
(hieen's  Mujosty's  Privio  Gullerio  at  Whitehall,  who  was 
sent  to  iiuiko  this  discovery  by  Kin^  Henry  WW,  and 
inkrcd  the  same  fret :  affirniinj^  that  he  sailed  very  farre  wtist- 
ward  with  a  quarter  of  tlie  North,  on  the  North  side  of  Terra 
do  Labrador  the  elovonth  of  June,  until  ho  camo  to  tho 
soptoiuptrionall  latitude  of  G7  degrees  and  a-halfe,  and  finding 
the  sea  still  open,  said  that  he  might  and  would  luivegone  to 
(ataia,  if  tho  mutinio  of  tho  Master  and  Mariners  had  not 
lu'iio."* 

Another  person  who  fought  hard  in  favor  of  Martin  Probish- 

ci's  uiulortaking  was  Richard  Willes,  the  meritorious  contin- 

uator  of  Eden's  work.  He  puts  in  the  mouth  of  the  opponents 

who  claimed  that  it  was  impossible  for  it  to  succeed,  these 

words :  "Well  graunt  the  West  Indies  not  to  continue  continent 

unto  the  Pole,  grant  there  be  a  passage  between  these  two 

lands,  let  the  gulfo  lie  nearer  us  than  commonly  in   Gardes 

wo  fiiide  it  set,  naynely,  hetivecnc  the  61  and  64  decrees  North,  as 

[Goninia  Frisius  f  in  his  mappes  and  globes  imagineth  it, 

I  and  so  left  by  our  countryman  Sebastian  Cabot,  in  his  Table, 

I  which  the  Earle  of  Bedford  hath  at  Cheynies  .  .  . ."  X 

Then  speaking  in  his  own  person  with  greater  particularity 
I  he  continues  :  "For  that  Caboto  was  not  only  a  skilful  seaman 
but  a  long  traveller  and  such  a  one  as  entered  personally  that 
nlmujU,  sent  by  King  Henry  VII.  to  make  this  aforesaid  dis- 
covery as  in  his  own  Discourse  oi  Navigation  yov  may  read  in 
his  Card,  drawn  tvith  his  own  hand,  that  tho  mouth  of  tlie  North 
Western   Straight  lieth  r? car  the  318  meridian,  between  61  and 
64  degrees  in  the  elevation  continuyng  the  same  breadth  a- 
bout  ten  degrees  West,  where  it  openetli  southerly  more  and 
[more,"§        .  -;  ;, 

*  Hakluyt,  vol.  iii,  p.  38  from  the  Discourse  of  Sir  Humphrey  Gilbert, 
Inhere  the  possibility  is  proved  of  going  by  the  northwest  to  Catliuy,  cli.  iii. 

t  Gemma  Regnier,  surnamed  Frisius  or  Frizon  because  born  in  Friesland  iu 
jHolland,  was  a  celebrated  mathemiitician,  who  besides  many  otlier  works  of 
jreat  merit  and  reputation  published  a  "  Mappa  Mundi,"  atLouvainin  1540. 
|He  was  born  in  1508,  and  died  at  Louvajn  in  1505. 

}  Hakluyt  vol.  iii,  p.  48,  ^  lb.  p,  49. 


isa 


THE  LIFE  OF  REBA-fiTIAN  CABOT. 


ini 


I ;  n 


i.H 


Tlio  topographical  description  corroaponds  so  oxnotly  with 
ifho  true  position  that  '^t'  itself  alono  it  would  sutlicD  to  rui;. 
vinco  us  that  llichanl  Willea  was  spcakinjjj  of  the  vi-ry  stmit 
and  bay  which  wore  later  called  after  Hudson,  and  of  no  otlnf 
place.  Hut  if  this  is  not  enough,  there  is  the  perfect  iifjrtr- 
mont  of  the  latitude  in  its  conHrniation,  Willes's  cnleulatioii 
of  the  longitude  is  made  from  the  island  of  Ferro  eastwiini? 
Now  following  this  direction  hot  ween  ()l°and  04°  N.  L.  we 
■coinediri'ctly  to  the  mouth  of  Hudson  {Strait.  It  istruo  tliattlie 
degrees  of  longitude  from  the  Island  of  Ferro  to  the  (^ntniiia  of 
that  strait  are  not  318  as  Willes  has  it,  hut  312  ;  Imt  tht 
difl'erence  very  likely  should  he  charged  to  Willes,  wliojudjicd 
by  looking  at  Cabot's  chart,  without  much  attention  to  the  j 
mathematical  exactness  in  the  distance.  * 

The   difference   in    longitude,   however,   docs   not  injure  | 
our  argument,  so  long  as  the  latitude,  which  is  the  importa 
point,  is  given  correctly. 

Finally,  Ortelius  puts  the  seal  on  all  this  discussion  by  | 
his  TJientrum  Orlnn  Tararu/m,  pub^'^^hed  in  1570,  that  is  to sjiv. 
forty  years  before    Hudson's  ex         tion  ;    and   even  before 
Martin  Frobisher  attempted  his      -jtige  to  the  same  coasts. 
In  that  Atlas,  in  the  map  he  calls    "America,  i.  e.  novi  orbis 
doscriptio,  "  he  puts  the  strait  and  bay  which  were  afterward! 
called  Hudson's,  and  the   channel  afterwards  named  Foxs 
which  empties  into  the  bay,  with  an  exactness  not  possible  to! 
any  one  who  had  not  certain  and  precise  information  of  the 
topography  of  those  regions.       But  where  could  he  have  got 
this  information?    The  answer  is  had  in  the  Catalogue  of  I 
the  authors  from  whom,  he  says  he  obtained  the  neccssnrj 
information  for  his  work.     Amongst  these  we  find  Sebastiac 
Cabot,  whose  "universal  map  cut  in  brass"  ho  says  he  hadbe- 
fore  his  eyes,  f  As  none  of  the  other  authors  he  names  in  the 


■•— -^- 


fiiE  • 


*Bi(ldle,  Memoir, 'R(^(^k\,  ch.  3,  pp.  234-235. 

f  CiUologns  auctoriim  Xtihularum  GeogrHpliicariim  quotquotad  noslramcog 
nitionctn  liactenus  pervenere. 

Sebastiaima  Ca^iotus  Venetus. 

Universalem  tabulam  quam  impressan  aeneis  formis  vidimus,  sed^ine  nomiK  | 
Inci  et  impressoris. 


:i 


DATE  OF  THIH  DIHCOVERY. 


133 


note  give  any  informjition  whatever  concerninj?  those  norti- 
cru  regions,  it  ronuiins  necessary  that  lio  must  have  ohtaiiiixl 
it  from  Cabot. 

hi  tho  whole  treatment  of  this  cliaptcr  I  have  foUowed  al- 
most in  tho  steps  of  Richard  liiddle  in  liis  Mttnoir,  as  it  s(HMn8 
to  mc  that  what  lie  says  is  not  only  likely  or  probable,  but  true. 
I  must  confess  that  the  last  arj;uiuent  di'awn   from   Ortel- 
jus's  Atlas  has  given  me  gome  trouble,    liiddle  did  not  know 
of  Sebastian  Cabot's  great  j)lanisi)here  wliieh  is  still  preserved 
ill  tho  National  Library  at  Paris.        But  wo  who  know  of  it 
must  draw  our  proofs  from  that,  not  from  Ortelius.       l''or  al- 
tliough  Ortelius  has  Hudson  Bay  and  Strait  and   Fox  Chun- 
iicl  with  all  tho  exactness  noted   by  Biddle,  Cabot's  plani- 
sphere on  the  contrary  leaves  us  in  tlie  dark.       From  this  it 
would  seem  most  natural  to  conclude  that  Ortelius  did  not 
obtain  his  knowledge  of  thoso  pai*ts  from  Cabot's  Ma}).      But 
on  thinking  it  over  there  seems  a  way  out  of  this  reason iiig. 
The  list  of  the  authors  consub  d  by  him  proves  clearly  that 
Ortelius  could  not  have  obtiuiied  the  existence  of  that  bay 
and  strait  from  any   other   source   than  a  chart  of  ( 'abot's. 
That  Cabot  in  his  charts  liad  marked  a  strait  in  those  parts  and 
at  that  height  is  proved  by  the  testimony  of  several  per.sons 
who  had  seen  and  studied  those  charts.      It  follows  then  that 
Ortelius  had   under  his   eyes   some   other  chart   than   that 
preserved  at  Paris  ;  in  fact  Sir  Humphrey  speaks  of  charts 
preserved  in  the  gallery  of  Whitehall,  not  of  a  single  chart. 

Here  I  think  best  to  recall  wdiat  we  elsewhere  observed,  that 
it  was  forbidden  under  pain  of  death  for  the  Spanish  and 
Portuguese  pilots  to  trace  on  their  sailing-charts  any  sign  that 
could  put  other  countries  on  the  track  of  discovering  the  crtnal 
sought  for  and  which  opened  the  way  to  the  East  Indies.* 
The  chart,  from  Which  the  copy  at  Paris  is  taken,  was  made 
whilst  Cabot  was  in  Spain,  and  even  if  he  had  wished  to  make 

*"  Tbe  Spaniards  iinii  Poitutjals have  commanded  that,  po  pilot  of  theirs 

upon  paine  of  death,  should  plat  out  in  any  sea  card,  any  thorow  passape " 

Iliikluyt,  ill,  p.  23  —  G.  B.  Belloro  in  his  "Elogio  di  Leone  Pancaldo"  re- 
ports a  notarial  act  of  September  30,  1631,  l)y  which  Pancaldo,  a  companion  of 
Magellan,  bound  himself  to  the  King  of  Portugal  for  the  sum  of  2000  ducats 
not  to  teach  anyone  the  new  way  discovered  to  the  Moluccas,  and  not  to  make 


134 


THE  LIFE  OP  SEBASTIAN  CABOT. 


KHIi ' 


11!:-    :    = 

•■:' 

:iir:y     ■ 

:''j 
1 

•  i, « 

:■ 

!i;i-  -, ' 

■J 

hi^  discovery  known  of  the  bay  which  was  afterwards  named 
from  Hudson,  and  the  two  channels  communicating  with  it,  he 
cou'M  give  no  hint  of  it,  for  to  do  so  would  have  been  to  sign 
his  own  condemnation.  But  when  he  was  in  England,  beyond 
all  danger  from  Spain,  he  added  that  correction  to  his  plani- 
sphere. We  must  then  presume  that  the  copies  mentioned  bv 
Sir  Humphrey  Gilbert  and  that  used  by  Ortelius  were  taken 
from  the  planisphere  corrected  and  improved  by  the  addition 
of  this  discovery. 

It  is  then  beyond  question  that  Sebastian  Cabot  had 
sailed  through  the  strait  which  gave  immortal  fame  to  the 
name  of  Hudson ;  he  knew  the  bay,  had  seen  its  expanse  south- 
wards, and  indicated  that  there  was  a  passage  through  it  into  a 
new  channel  towards  the  north. 

But  in  which  of  his  voyages  did  he  make  this  discovery? 

It  could  not  have  been  in  either  of  the  voyages  of  1497 
and  1498  ;  what  we  know  of  them  excludes  it.  It  could  not 
have  been  in  the  period  from  1498  to  1512  in  which  we 
lose  sight  of  him,  for  the  only  sign  of  him  we  have  during 
that  period,  so  far  from  showing  him  to  us  in  such  distant  ex- 
peditions as  that  of  Hudson's  Bay,  represents  him,  on  the 
contrary,  in  the  care  and  anxiety  of  getting  together  a  few 
vessels  for  a  vc_^  age  which  failed  precisely  on  account  of  the 
poverty  and  scarcity  of  the  means  with  wnich  it  was  under- 
taken. *  Nothing  remains  then  but  the  expedition  of  1516. 
But  it  is  not  necessary  to  obtain  this  conclusion  from  negative 
proof  alone  :  Sir  Humphrey  Gilbert's  own  words  place  this 
discovery  in  that  year.  Read  them  over  carefully,  and  you 
will  see  what  appears  to  me  quite  clear.  The  short  extract  w 
made  from  them  is  divided  in  two  parts  :  in  the  first  he  says 
that  Cabot  discovered  and  described  that  strait,  and  in  the  sec- 
ond, that  ho  sailed  to  67°  30'  of  North  Latitude,  and  was 
obliged  to  return  by  the  mutiny  of  the  crews.  Are  the  two  parts 
separated  from  each  other  ?  No,  they  are  joined  closely  1))' 
means  of  the  present  participle  :  "  Sebastian  Cabota  by  his  por- 


any  geographical  chart  showing  it.    See  Qiornale  Ligustico  Feb.  e  Miirzo,18(3, 
p.  56. 
•  See  chapter  xix. 


DID  HUDSON  KNOW  OF  CABOT's  DISCOVERY  ? 


135 


sonal  experience  and  travel  1  hath  set  foorth  and  described 

this  passage and  entered  the  same  fret ;  ajfirmwg 

tliat  he  sailed to  the  Septentrionall  latitude  of  67* 

degrees  and  ....  that  he  might  and  would  have  gone  to 
Cataia  if  the  mutinie  of  the  Maister  and  Mariners  had  not 
bene/'*  Then  the  two  things  form  a  single  whole  and  arc 
inseparable  one  from  the  other.  But  we  know  from  Eden  that 
the  navigation  to  sixty-seven-and-a-half  degrees  and  the  mu- 
tiny of  the  crews  was  in  the  eighth  year  of  Henry  VIII,  or  in 
151G  :  therefore  the  discovery  of  the  strait  and  bay  was  like- 
wise in  that  year. 

At  first  sight  this  conclusion  appears  to  contradict  the  ac- 
count of  Richard  Willes  who  says  that  "  Cabot  ....  entered 
personally  that  straight,  sent  by  King  Henry  VII  to  make 
this  aforesaid  discovery."  But  a  careful  attention  to  the  whole 
of  his  words  will  show  that  he  mentions  Henry  VII,  not  J,. 
connection  with  the  particular  discovery  of  that  strait,  but  as 
a  general  mention  that  from  him  began  the  navigations  of  Se- 
bastian Cabot,  on  one  of  which  he  made  the  discovery  of  that 
strait.  In  other  words,  it  is  as  if  he  had  said  :  "  Sehast?an 
Cabot,  sent  by  Henry  VII  to  discover  now  lands  in  the 
northern  seas,  entered  that  strait  which  is  the  commencement 
of  the  passage  now  sought  after."  If  we  had  any  doubt 
about  this  interpretation  it  would  be  dissipated  at  once  by 
the  instance  of  Ramusio,  whose  Avords  also,  as  we  saw  in 
the  last  chapter,  apparently  sound  as  though  Cabot  had 
reached  the  height  of  07  J  degrees  under  Henry  VII  :— "It 
was  written  me  by  Signor  Sebastian  Cabot ....  who  had 
sailed  above  this  land  of  New  France  at  the  cost  of  King  Henry 
Vll  of  England,  and  he  told  me  how  having  proceeded  a 
great  distance  to  the  west  and  a  quarter  north-west,  .... 
as  far  as  G7  degrees  and  a  half  ....  he  thought  ....  he 
could  pass  towards  Eastern  Cathay."  The  authority  of  Eden 
who  wrote  in  the  life-time  of  Cabot,  and  was  his  personal 
friend,  assures  as  with  absolute  precision  that  the  altitude  of 
(>7  degrees  and  a  half  was  reached  in  the  eighth  year  of  Henry 


*  App.  xxili. 


1 


V 


h  : 


13G 


THE  LIFE  OF  SEBASTIAN  CABOT. 


VIII  :  it  is  therefore  impossible  that  Sebastian  Cabot  in 
his  letter  to  Ramusio  put  it  in  the  time  of  Henry  VII.  How- 
then,  did  Ramusio  come  to  fetch  in  tliis  King  ?  For  the  i?ame 
reason  that  Richard  Willes  did  so.  It  is  with  the  name  of 
Henry  VII  that  the  glorious  series  of  those  voyages  begins, 
and  the  image  of  the  one  who  had  first  opened  the  way  pre- 
sented itself  to  the  mind  of  the  historian  in  telling  of  tlicir 
progress,  and  as  the  connection  of  the  two  records  appeared 
spontaneous  and  natural  to  his  mind,with  the  same  spontane- 
ity and  naturalness  he  joined  them  in  his  narrative. 

But  to  reach  67  i  degrees  it  is  not  enough  merely  to  enter 
Hudson  Strait  and  reach  the  Bay,  it  is  also  necessary  to  tliroud 
the  channel  running  into  it  from  the  North,  now  called  Fox 
Channel,  and  to  pass  up  it  a  good  distance.  At  that  altitude 
when  in  his  heated  fancy  he  was  admiring  the  sight  of 
the  smiling  regions  of  the  Grand  Khan,  the  master  of  tbcsliip 
warned  him  to  go  back,  and  he  was  backed  by  the  raging  and 
threatening  crew.  Fear  had  seized  possessionof  their  minds 
and  hearts  and  they  could  listen  to  no  reason  for  continuing 
their  course.  The  genius  of  the  Pilot  was  obliged  to  yield  to 
the  claims  of  the  master  and  the  violence  of  the  crew. 

The  heart  is  here  op})ressed  with  the  painful  thought  of 
the  injustice  with  which  fame  is  distributed  to  men.  When 
Hudson  in  1610  immortalized  his  name  by  giving  it  to  the 
strait  and  bay,  94  years  had  passed  since  Sebastian  Cabot  liad 
made  them  both  known  to  Europe,  and  not  a  palm  of  land  on 
the  surface  of  the  earth  bears  the  name  of  Cabot.  And  Hudson 
not  only  knew  of  the  previous  discovery  by  Sebastian  Cabot, 
but  his  whole  voyage  was  guided  by  the  notes  he  had  left  of 
it.  Of  this  there  is  no  doubt.  Among  the  various  names  he 
gave  the  new  lands  he  went  on  visiting,  there  was  even  that 
of  Ilakluyt's  Headland.*  Hakluyt  was  the  famous  collector  of 
English  voyages  and  navigations,  a  work  to  which  we  have  had 
constant  occasion  to  refer.  It  is  evident  from  this  that  Hudson 
when  giving  his  name  to  a  promontory  in  the  new  lands 
wished  by  this  honor  to  attest  and  publish  his  gratitude  and 


*  Purchas.vol.  iii,p.464. 


INJUSTICE  OF  FAME. 


137 


that  of  the  English  for  the  meritorious  worlc  of  that  writer.  This 
proof  of  aflection  and  acknowledgment  is  all  the  more  valu- 
able because  Hakluyt  was  still  living,  and  it  is  something  too 
rare  to  recognize  the  merits  of  living  persons.  Are  we  to  believe 
tbat  Hudson  whose  ambition  it  was  to  continue  the  struggles 
and  achievements  celebrated  by  Hakluyt,  had  never  looked 
into  his  book,  and  only  knew  him  by  the  fame  which  pro- 
claimed his  name  loudly  throughout  England  ?  The  supposi- 
tion is  absurd.  Others  may  have  read  his  works  out  of  zeal  of 
patriotic  affection  and  love  of  the  excitement  of  the  story  of  so 
many  heroic  deeds  and  such  endurance;  others  who  desired  to 
follow  in  the  same  path  and  furnish  materials  for  other  like 
histories,  must  have  read  them  through  the  enthusiasm  which 
bore  them  on  to  similar  achievements  and  for  instruction. 
IIiulsou  had  read  and  studied  Hakluyt,  and  he  had  seen  on 
paj^e  16  of  the  third  volume  the  extract  from  Sir  Humphrey 
Gilbert  where  he  relates  that  Sebastian  Cabot  discovered  that 
strait,  and  that  he  had  found  it  designated  in  his  chart 
hung  in  the  gallery  at  Whitehall,  and  on  page  26  he  saw 
the  account  of  Richard  Willes  who  gave  also  the  latitude  of 
the  strait. 

Like  Frobisher  and  Hudson,  others  who  have  been  vaunted 
as  bold  and  hardy  discoverers  enlarging  our  knowledge  of 
North  America,  have  all  had  thn  principal  poinisof  the  path 
they  wanted  to  pursue  markeii  it  for  them  in  the  narratives 
of  Peter  Martyr,  Eden,  Hakluyt,  Willes,  nnd  Purchas,  afti  r 
the  report  of  Sebastian  Cabot.  But  tl;  .  all  had  the  rep- 
utation of  being  first,  and  hardly  in  the  sliad'  v  is  then  ■  sign 
of  the  name  of  the  Venetian  who  showed  them  the  way* 


*  Biddle,  Memoir,  p.  363  and  a. 


,"f,,;i.    ,"->••. *i-rJ,f'o?7^:w-vrt',77-^ 


■;■.  -i 


138 


THE  LIFE  OF  SEBASTIAN  CABOT. 


n 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

Return  to  Spain. 

Cabot  probably  returned  to  Spain  immediately  after  the 
return  of  tliis  expedition,  indignant  at  being  stopped  just  as 
he  stretched  forth  his  hand  to  seize  the  coveted  palm  of  vic- 
tory. But  in  whatever  way  the  expedition  had  resulted,  it 
was  in  Spain  a  triumph  for  him  that  his  work  had  been  so- 
licited by  England  which  had  tried  it  previously  in  other  nav- 
igations. This  was  the  most  effective  answer  he  could  make 
to  his  detractors  and  enemies  ;  and  his  genius  and  skill  must 
have  gained  greatly  in  the  esteem  and  confidence  of  the  Gov- 
ernment there.  In  fact,  we  find,  not  long  after,  a  royal  or- 
dinance dated  at  Valladolid  February  5,  1518,  conferring  on 
him  the  office  of  Pilot-Major.*  He  was  the  third  that  attained 
to  this  rank.  The  first  was  Americo  Vespucci,  the  lucky 
Florentine  who  left  his  name  to  all  America ;  the  second  was 
John  Diaz  de  Soils,  the  famcus  discoverer  of  the  Rio  de  la 
Plata. f  Three  years  after  the  latter's  death  Sebastian  Cabot 
was  appointed  to  this  office,  the  salary  of  which  was  the  noble 
sum  of  125,000  maravedis  a  year.;}:  The  duties  of  the  office 
are  stated  in  the  letter  which  King  Ferdinand  wrote  to  Ves- 
pucci August  6,  1508,  when  it  was  instituted. 


*  Herrera,  Dec.  ii,  lib.  iii,  cap.vii.  "El  Rey  ....  diose  titulo  de  Pilnto 
Mayor  al  Capitau  Sebastian  Qaboto,"  Dec.  ii,  lib.  ix,  cap.  vii. 

+  Herrera,  Dec.  i,  lib.  vii,  cap.  i.  —  Dec.  ii,  lib.  ii,  cap.  viii. 

X  Id.  ib.  —  "dal  Re  Ferdinando  ful  facto  capitano  cum  provisione  di  cin- 
quanta  m.  maravedis,  poij  ful  facto  da  questo  Re  prescnte  (Carlo  V)  piloto  mHior 
cum  provvisione  di  altri  50  m.  maravedis  et  per  adiutodi  cose  mi  da  poij  25m. 

maravedis  cbe  sono  in  tutto  125  m.  maravedis "  See  App.  xxvi.— It  was 

the  salary  fixed  for  that  office  when  Vespucci  was  appointed,  -^See  Navarrete, 
iii.  178,  pp.  800,  301. 


WOLSEY  INVITES  HIM  TO  RETURN. 


139 


The  Pilot-Major  was  charged  with  the  examination  of  Pilots 
in  the  use  of  the  Astrolahe  and  Quadrant,  ascertaining 
whether  they  joined  theory  to  practice,  giving  certificates, 
giving  tliem  instructions  for  which  they  were  to  pay  him, 
and  with  presiding  over  the  construction  of  a  Padron  or  model 
chart,  whicli  was  to  be  called  Padron  Real  (Royal  Model) 
and  to  be  successively  corrected  and  improved  from  the  in- 
formation which  all  Pilots  coming  from  the  Indies  were 
obliged  to  submit  to  the  Casa  dc  Contratacion  in  Seville.* 

The  Pilot-Major  resided  at  Seville  near  "La  Casa  do  Con- 
tratacion de  las  Indias,"  (Ministry  of  Indian  affairs)  established 
in  tli.ft  city  in  1503.  To  the  ministry  was  annexed,  though 
in  what  year  is  not  known,  a  chair  of  cosmography  the  first 
occupant  of  which  must  have  been  Sebastian  Cabot  as  it 
would  seem  from  the  Index  of  Professors  as  given  by 
Navarrete.f  From  the  king's  letter  to  Americo  Vespucci,  it 
appears  that  the  Pilot-Major  by  virtue  of  his  office  was 
"Censor  of  the  Professor  of  cosmography." 

Two  years  later,  in  1520,  Horrcra  relates  a  second  time  the 
conferring  of  the  position  of  Pilot-Major,  but  with  the  ad- 
dition of  an  order  of  the  Emperor  that  no  pilot  should  go  to 
the  Indies  without  the  examination  and  approval  of  Cabot.:|: 
But  it  is  not  clear  from  his  words  whether  this  order  was  an 
a(klition  made  in  that  year  to  the  authority  of  the  Pilot- 
Major,  or  it  referred  to  the  duty  of  examining  pilots  in  general, 
inherent  in  the  office  from  the  beginning.  From  the  account 
of  Raniusio's  anonymous  it  would  seem  to  refer  to  the  gen- 
eral examination,  and  that  this  charge  was  included  in  the 
riglits  and  duties  of  the  Pilot-Major.     "Do  you  not  know,"  he 


*  ". . .  y  porque  u  losque  no  supieron  raas  facilmente  lo  puedan  aprendcr  vog 
mandamos  que  lea  cnsefieis  en  vuestra  casa  en  Sevilla  ii  todos  ios  que  lo 
qucsieren  saber,  pagaudovos  vuestio  tral)!ijo."~Navarretc  iii,  n.  7,  p.  301. 

t  ". .  .  se  establicio  la  catedra  de  cosmojrrafia  y  navogacion  que  explicabael 
cnsraogiafo  de  Incasacomo  lo  iiicieran  Sebastian  Caboto,  Alonsodc  Ch(ttes,AlomO 
desfinta  C/'U2."_Navarrei.e,  Diaertacion  sobre  la  historia  de  la  Nautica,  Ma- 
drill,  1846,  p.  134. 

I  "  Diose  titulo  de  Piloto  Maior  a  Hebaslian  Gnboto  con  orden  que  ningun 
Piloto  pnsase  La  las  Indias  sin  ser  primero  por  el  exanaiuado  i  aprobado." — Dec. 
ii,  lib.  ix,  cap.  vii. 


-if-i 


■1 

'I 


i  ■'  ., 


•  ! 


.    "■! 


t 
'it  ^ 

i 


140 


THE  LIFE  OP  SEBASTIAN  CABOT. 


says,  "in  connection  with  this  going  to  find  the  Indies  by 
the  north,  what  was  done  by  a  Venetian  citizen  of  yours, 
who  was  so  able  and  experienced  in  matters  pertaining  to 
navigation  and  cosmography  that  there  is  not  his  equal  in 
Spain  to-day,  and  his  knowledge  caused  him  to  be  placed 
over  all  the  pilots  that  sail  to  the  West  Indies,  so  that  they 
cannot  do  so  without  a  license  from  him,  and  on  this  account 
he  is  called  Pilot-Major  f  *  But  on  the  other  hand,  if  it  was  to 
be  understood  as  a  duty  inherent  in  the  office  itself,  wiiy 
should  Herrera  have  made  special  mention  of  that  examina- 
tion and  approval  ?  If  one  went  with  the  other,  when  the 
first  was  told  the  second  would  be  understood,  and  Herrera's 
repetition  becomes  useless.  Hence  I  am  inclined  to  believe 
that  the  first  examination  regarded  in  general  all  those  who 
wished  to  take  up  the  career  of  a  pilot,  and  that  the  second 
was  a  special  examination  of  those  pilots  who  leaving  our 
waters  wanted  to  navigate  the  seas  of  the  West  Indies. 

However  this  may  have  been,  it  is  certain  that  Sebastian 
Cabot  was  placed  in  very  high  and  extensive  authority,  and  this 
appointment  alone  ought  to  be  enou9ch  to  give  his  name  an 
honorable  place  in  the  glorious  band  of  navigators  in  that 
age.  But  however  high  the  office  or  important,  its  nature  was 
such  as  to  furnish  the  historian  with  but  few  details  to  record. 
The  year  following  his  appointment  as  Pilot-Major  of  Spain, 
or  about  that  time,f  we  find  him  again  in  England,  but  the 
cause  of  his  going  thither  is  not  known.  On  this  occasion 
Cardinal  Wolsey,  the  prime  minister  of  Henry  VIII  and 
all  powerful  in  English  afiiiirs,  sent  for  him  and  made  him 
great  otters  if  he  would  reenter  the  service  of  England 
and  make  new  expeditions  and  discoveries  for  her.  But  he 
excused  himself  on  the  ground  that  he  could  not  accept  with- 
out the  permission  of  the  King  of  Spain  to  whose  service  he 
was  bound.  He  would  gladly  do  it  if  he  had  that  permission. 
At  this  time  he  met  a  Friar  Stragliano  Collona,  a  Venetian. 


*  Delle  namgazioni  et  Viaggi,  he,  cit.  p.  414.  D.  ^ 

t   "24  Deuembre,  1522  ....  hor  ritrovandomi  ja  tre  anni,  salvo  il  vero,  in 
Ingleterra."  App.  xxvi. 


PROPOSALS  TO  VENICE. 


141 


for  whom  he  entertained  great  friendship,  and  who  said 
to  him  :  "  Master  Sebastian,  you  take  such  pains  to  benefit 
foreign  countries,  forgetting  your  own.  Might  it  not  be  pos- 
sible tliat  it  also  might  have  some  aid  from  you  ?"*  These 
words  made  a  deep  impressioxi  en  Sebastian,  who  at  the  time 
replied  that  he  would  reflect  on  it,  and  the  friar  coming  back 
to  him  the  next  day  told  him  that  he  had  a  way  of  making 
Venice  a  sharer  in  his  navigations  and  could  show  him  how 
it  would  be  greatly  to  his  advantage.  Since  he  could  not 
have  done  this  if  he  accepted  Cardinal  Wolsey's  proposal,  he 
wrote  secretly  to  Spain  not  to  give  him  permission  to  enter 
the  service  of  England,  but  to  recall  him  at  once  to  Seville, 
as  was  done.f 

Sebastian  Cabot  himself  related  these  things  to  Caspar  Con- 
tarini,  Venetian  ambassar>or  to  Spain,  and  wo  cannot  add  a  syl- 
lable to  his  account  or  take  one  from  it,  for  he  is  the  only  wit- 
ness to  his  own  words. 

Still  for  the  nonce  he  took  no  action  on  the  new  proposi- 
tion, but  kept  reflecting  on  it  and  maturing  it  in  his  mind. 
Perhaps  the  delay  arose  from  the  difficulty  he  saw  in  the  way 
of  drawing  Venice  into  the  benefits  of  the  navigation  of  the 
Now  World.  Meanwhile  at  Seville  he  contracted  a  close 
friendship  with  a  Jerome  do  Marin  de  Busignole  from  Ragusa 
in  Dalmatia,  and  knowing  that  he  was  about  to  proceed  to 
Venice  opened  himself  to  him  under  a  vow  of  secrecy,  and  en- 
gaged him  to  appear  in  his  name  before  the  council  of  Ten 
and  make  known  his  intention  of  asking  to  bo  allowed  to  ap- 
pear before  them  in  person  for  the  ])urpose  of  declaring  by 
word  of  mouth  what  he  had  in  his  mind.;}: 

In  September  1522  the  Ragusan  executed  the  commission. § 
The  Ten  were  in  some  doubt  as  to  the  seriousness  of  the  pro- 
posal, but  considering  it  to  be  a  matter  of  grave  iniportance, 
were  unwilling  to  let  it  fall  through.  Witli  the  usual  prudence 
and  astuteness  of  that  faiiious  council  they  warily  sent  in  ad- 

*  "  Messer  Sebastiano  vui  vi  ;ififiiticati  cussi  grandemente  per  far  beneficio  a 
eenti  externe  non  vi  aricordate  di^lla  vostia  terra,  non  seria  possibile  clic  etiam 
lei  havesse  qualche  utilita  da  vui  ?"—  App.  xxvi. 

t  lb.  :j:  lb.  §  App.  xxv. 


•I  i^ 


.;L. 


'It 


n 


til 

11  i  I 


142 


THE  LIFE  OF  SEBASTIAN  CABOT. 


I    I  I 


I  : 


vancc  to  ascertain  what  foundation  there  was  for  a  good  result 
Rewarding  the  Ragusan  for  liis  pains  witli  a  sura  of  money,* 
they  made  him  write  to  Sehastian  tliat  it  would  give  the  Ten 
pleasure  to  receive  him.  This  letter  they  themselves  sent  to 
the  Venetian  amhassador  in  Spain,  informing  him  of  the 
matter,  and  intrusting  him  to  remit  it  directly  or  by  the 
safest  means  to  Cabot's  hands.  The  ambassador  was  to  pre- 
tend to  know  nothing  unless  Sebastian  himself  should  disclose 
it,  and  then  he  was  to  try  to  learn  his  sentiments  from  IiIkowii 
lips,  as  far  as  possible,  and  see  if  he  had  any  good  foundation 
for  his  action,  f 

On  Christmas  Eve,  1522,  Sebastian  was  at  the  Venetian 
ambassador's  house  by  his  invitation  and  received  the  letter 
in  a  secret  conference.  He  changed  color  on  reading  it  iind 
remained  for  some  time  in  doubt  and  alai-ni  without  sayiiifra 
word.;}:  The  intrusion  of  a  third  j)ers()n  in  what  should  have 
been  a  secret  between  the  Ragusan  and  himself  excited  a  sus- 
picion of  treachery  ;  but  he  was  soon  reassured  on  the  am- 
bassador's telling  him  that  he  had  been  informed  of  the  mat- 
ter by  the  council  of  Ten  with  orders  to  deliver  to  liiin 
the  letter.  The  conversation  was  interrupted  for  the  moment, 
because  the  ambassador  was  called  away,  but  was  resumed 
later  in  the  evening  and  continued  at  great  length.  In  this 
conversation  besides  what  wo  have  related  of  Cardinal  Wolsey's 
offer  and  the  complaint  of  Friar  Stragliano  Collona  and  the 
subsequent  reflections  of  Sebastian  Cabot,  the  latter  also  re- 
lated that  he  had  at  other  times  thought  of  transferring  to  his 


*  "1522.  Die  27  Septembris  in  ColK'cio  intervenientibus  et  ballotantibus,  dom- 
inis  Ciipitibus  lUustrissimisCnncili  X. 

"  Chel  sia  iniposto  al  Cameriengo  del  Conslglio  nostro  dei  X,  die  deidenari 
della  cassa  sua,  dar  debbi  in  dono  diicali  viuti  a  Domino  Hieronimo  de  Mariu 
Rairuseo  pro  bona  causa. 
+16 

^4  Facto  mandato. 

—0  "ArchiviodeiFrari,  Venczia,  Consigliodei  Dieci,  Lettere  sottoscritte,  Filza 
N.  5,  1522." 

+  App.  XXV. 

t  "  lo  ritiratomi  con  lui,  li  detti  lalettcra,  lui  la  Icsse  et  ledendola  si  niossf! 
tutto  di  colore.  Da  poij  letta,  stete  cussi  un  poclieto  senza  dirmi  altro  quasi 
sbiggotito  et  dubbio."   lb. 


mm 


..    i\ 


PROPOSALS  TO  VENICE. 


143 


own  country  of  Venice  the  benefit  of  his  navigations,  and  had 
talked  on  the  subject  with  the  Venetian  Ambassador  in  Eng- 
land. 15ut  he  says  nothing  of  the  result  of  this  conversation, 
and  we  have  been  unable  to  find  any  trace  of  it  elsewhere. 
Contarini  was  charged  to  find  out  from  Sebastian  in  what 
way  ho  intended  to  conduct  his  undertaking,  so  as  to  inform 
the  council,  and  subsequently  Sebastian  would  have  been  able 
to  appear  before  them  in  person.  But  Cabot  re[)lied  that  he 
would  only  disclose  his  plan  to  the  chief  of  the  Ten,  and  for 
that  purpose  would  proceed  to  Venice  under  the  pretext  of 
recovering  his  mother's  dower.  So  far  they  were  agreed. 
But  Contarini,  who  could  not  well  have  liked  Sebastian's  re- 
fusal to  disclose  to  him  his  secret,  after  admitting  that  the 
undertaking  if  successful  would  be  of  very  great  advantage  to 
Venice,  began  to  raise  very  serious  doubts  of  the  possibility 
of  success,  founded  on  the  situaiion  of  Venice  in  relation  to 
the  new  lands  to  which  he  would  have  to  sail.  But  Sebastian 
held  firm  to  his  refusal  to  explain,  saying  only  "I  know  ;  for 
I  have  navigated  all  those  countries,  and  I  know  it  all  well,"* 
and  again  asserted  that  he  had  not  accepted  England's  offer, 
because  if  he  had  done  so  "no  way  would  have  remained  for 
Venice."  Returning  to  the  subject  a  few  days  later,  Contarini 
repeated  the  difficulties  in  the  way  of  the  plan,  and  Sebastian 
cut  short  all  discussion  with  these  words  :  "  And  I  tell  you 
that  the  way  and  the  manner  are  plain.  I  will  go  to  Venice 
at  my  own  expense,  they  will  hear  me,  and  if  the  plan  I  have 
thought  out  does  not  please  them,  I  will  come  back  also  at  my 
own  expense,  "f 

After  these  first  conversations  Sebastian  returned  frequently 
to  the  ambassdor's,  repeating  his  determination  to  go  to 
Venice  to  perform  what  he  had  promised.;}:  But  the  others  did 
not  show  the  same  eagerness.  Finally,  on  the  7th  of  March, 
he  notified  the  ambassador  that  lie  was  obliged  to  suspend 

*  lb. 

f'etiovidico  che  la  via  ed  il  modo  li  facile.  Anderft  aVenetia  amic  spese, 
meudiranno  ne  piacendoli  11  cnodo  per  me  ezcogitato,  iomi  ritomerft  pur  s^ 
mie  Bpese."  lb. 

I  App.  xxvii.  ,        .  ^    * 


J  I- 


144 


THE  LIFE  OF  SEBASTIAN  CABOT. 


m 


1  „ 

1  ■ 

''  \    T     ! 

1^: 

i  ^^ 

•  ■  1 

for  a  while  his  request  for  permission  to  proceed  to  Venico,  for 
fear  lest  it  should  be  suspected  that  ho  intended  goin^  to  Enjr. 
land;  and  that  the  suspension  would  last  three  months.  H^ 
urged  that  in  the  meantime  a  letter  should  ho  senthinv  iVom 
Venice,  of  the  same  tenor  as  that  written  to  the  Kagu.siui,  ju 
which  under  pretext  of  recovering  his  mother's  dower  tlicy 
should  give  him  an  excuse  for  going  to  speak  to  the  Council 
of  Ten.*  The  Council  of  Ten  with  unfortunate  slowness  iioj,'- 
lected  to  answer  the  letter  of  Doceiuber  31,1^^22,  in  whicli  ( 'oii- 
tarini  related  his  conference  with  Cabot;  and  only  nrouscd 
themselves  when  they  received  the  second  of  March  7,  152:5,  in 
which  iie  ambassador,  after  mentioning  Sebastian's  repeated 
visits  and  insistance,  wrote  that  he  had  requested  to  put  oil' 
his  going  to  Venice  for  three  months  for  safety's  sake,  fonriii;,' 
that  if  he  asked  permission  to  leave  at  that  time  they  would 
regard  it  as  a  proof  that  ho  was  going  to  England.  Tliat  after 
that  period  he  would  go  to  Venice.  And  that  in  the  mean- 
while he  recommended  that  they  should  have  the  Ragusan 
write  him  as  they  had  done  before  urging  him  to  proceed  to 
Venice  to  arrange  his  affairs.  Then  the  council  at  last  replied 
and  sent  the  letter  in  the  Ragusan's  name  which  Sebastian  liiid 
recpiested.f  The  pretext  for  sending  for  him  was  his  niotlier 
and  his  aunt's  dower  for  the  recovery  of  which  the  Ragusaii 
said  he  had  labored,  but  his  personal  presence  was  absolutely 
necessary.!  On  July  26  Contarini  wrote  again  to  the  Ten 
saying  that  he  had  delivered  to  Sebastian  the  letter  written 
him  in  the  Ragusan's  name;  and  that  he  said  he  was  still  iirni 
in  his  intention  and  would  take  steps  to  obtain  the  jier- 
missicm  to  leave  from  the  Spanish  Government.§ 

This  is  the  last  word  we  have  been  able  to  find  on  the  pub- 
ject.  What  further  happened?  It  may  be  that  Seba.stian 
distrusted  that  in  the  l(>ngth  of  the  negotiations,  the  many 
disi)atches  to  and  fro,  something  might  leak  out  and  i];et 
to  the  ears  of  the  Spanish  Government,  and  cause  him 
trouble,  and  therefore  prudently  let  the  matter  drop.  If  ho. 
Contarini,  who  from  the  first  conference  had  manifested  very 


*Ib. 


\Ib. 


X  App.  xxiz. 


§  App.  XXX. 


harrishe's  chargk  of  pkrfidy. 


145 


little  confidonco  in  his  proposal,  would  certainly  not  havo 
run  after  him  to  renew  negotiations.  But  in  spite  of  Cabot's 
protests,  I  think  it  much  more  probable  that  he  was  driven  to 
apply  ^^  \'enice  not  so  much  by  patriotic  aif'ection,  as  by  his 
own  need,  because  he  saw  no  other  way  of  carrying  out  his 
iilans.  It  surely  was  not  for  the  sedentary  and  peaceful  life 
(if  an  oflicc-holder  that  ho  went  to  Spain,  however  lucrative 
and  lionoral)lo  the  office  maj'^  havo  been  ;  his  heart  could  not 
hut  sigh  for  voyages  and  discoveries,  and  must  have  fretted 
l^reatiy  in  that  quiet  occupation  where  ho  passed  his  time  over 
charts  and  examinations.  In  this  discontented  condition  his 
thoughts  strayed  to  Venice,  and  ho  was  pleased  with  tiie  hope 
that  in  following  his  patriotic  affections,  ho  might  break  his 
chains  and  find  an  arm  and  a  flag  to  carry  him  through  the 
hattle  of  the  sea.  But  after  ho  had  sent  the  Ragusan  to  Venice, 
tliere  returned  to  Spain  from  the  Moluccas  the  ship,  "Vic- 
toria," which  had  taken  part  in  Magellan's  expedition  ;  and 
this  return  at  once  aroused  thoughts  and  plans  of  new  expedi- 
tions. *  May  it  not  have  been  that  the  hopes  excited  in 
Cabot  by  this  new  order  of  things  weakened  his  intention 
of  applying  to  Venice?  For,  although  he  assured  Contarini 
that  the  undertaking  ho  proposed  to  his  native  country  was 
easy  and  sure,  it  is  impossible  but  he  should  have  felt  the 
force  of  the  arguments  bi'ougbt  against  it  by  that  very  learned 
ainbassador.f  For  my  part,  I  stick  to  this  latter  ex})lanation, 
and  am  confirmed  in  it  by  observing  the  same  thing  occurr- 
ing again,  as  we  shall  sec,  in  similar  circumstances  in  Eng- 
land. 

Harrisse  calls  Sebastian  Cabot's  plan  of  going  to  Venice 
perfidious.  Oh,  why  ?  Perfidious  is  one  who  breaks  faith 
with  another.  What  obligation  had  Sebastian  Cabot  towards 
Spain  ?    That  of  fulfilling  the  duties  incumbent  on  the  office 


*The  Victoria  returned  to  Spain  September  8,  1522,  and  the  Senate  of 
Venice  on  tlic  23nd  of  the  same  moutli  wrote  to  its  uiiibassador  iu  Spain  the  ofiFer 
of  Sebasiiiin  Oubot.    Tlierefore  his  offer  whs  before  the  return  of  the  vessel. 

t  i^te  App.  xxvi.— Caspar  Contarini,  afterwards  Cardinal,  was  a  man  of 
profound  and  extensive  learning.  Peter  Martyr  d'  Anghiera  applied  to  hiin 
when  111!  met  with  any  diflScult  question  of  geography  or  cosmography  in  writ- 

10 


\ 


Pf! 

r 

ji 

140 


THE  UFE  OF  SEBAHTIAN  CABOT. 


r    , 


of  Pilot-Major.  Did  lie  ovor  fail  in  any  of  thorn  ?  Neithci 
llurris.so  nor  anybody  ol.so  ovor  said  ho,  or  can  say  so.  Wlmt 
lie  ollorod  to  Vonico  was  outsido  of  tlio  duty  of  a  I'ildt-Muiur. 
It  cannot  oven  bo  said  that  tho  plan  ho  proposed  to  Vonico 
originated  or  was  in  any  wa^  heliied  by  his  office  of  I'ilot-Mu. 
jor,  for  his  idea  of  discovering  a  passage  to  the  regions  of  th^ 
East  across  tho  New  World  was  many  years  prior  to  hig  ac- 
ceptance of  that  office.  Is  n  nuin  of  honor  forbidden  to  make 
use  of  tho  most  valuable  thing  at  his  disposal  ? — Hut  Spain 
would  have  been  greatly  injured  ? — And  whatof  that?— Tlim. 
is  never  a  new  invention  that  while  the  most  useful  for  sonic 
is  not  injurious  to  others  :  it  is  tho  natural  order  of  tliiiif;s. 
And  proci.scly  in  this  matter  of  discovery  tho  prosperity  lunl 
wealth  of  Spain  and  Portugal  mortally  wounded  and  killnl 
the  })rosperity  and  wealth  of  Venice.  If  Spain  In-oke  no 
moral  law  when  for  her  own  interests  she  carried  off  from 
her  ally,  unwary  England,  the  science  and  ability  of  Huhastian 
Cal)ot,  why  .should  he  bo  branded  with  perfidy  in  olferiiiff  to  lii< 
native  land  the  surplus  of  ability  and  science  which  Spain 
showed  no  inclination  to  make  use  of  ?  For  it  is  well  to  re- 
member that  Sebastian  Cabot's  office  was  purely  sedentary 
and  none  at  this  tijne  had  talked  of  employing  him  in  navi- 
gation and  discovery.  Indeed,  at  tho  first  likelihood  of  his  be- 
ing so  employed  he  cut  off  his  negotiations  with  Venice  and 
was  wholly  at  Spain's  dispo.sal. 

And  this  is  to  act  perfidiously  ! 

In  the  course  of  this  same  year  1523,  under  date  of  Novem- 
ber 16,  wo  find  10,000  maravedis  deducted  from  his  salary  as 
Pilot-Major  for  the  benefit  of  Maria  Cerezo,  widow  of  Am- 
erico  Vespucci,  as  had  been  done  before  from  the  salary  of 
De  Solis.*  The  year  following,  at  the  end  of  May,  in  a  note  of 
the  funeral  expenses  of  Sir  Thomas  Lovel,  K.  G.  we  find  a 
memorandum  of  reimbursement  of  a  certain   John  Godervk, 


ina:  liis  history.  "Agitatus  es  cura,"  lie  says  in  one  case  of  this  liind,  "conveni 
pasparem  Coiitarinium,  oratorera  apud  CfEsarem  pro  sua  Illuslri  Itepublics 
Veneta,  omni  litterarum  geneie  non  mediocriter  erudilum."  Dec.  v.  7. 
*Navarrete,  L.  iii,  Doc.  xi,  xiv,  pp.  308, 311, 


U 


Magellan's  discovery. 


147 


forbriiipiiiK  Hobastian  Cabot  to  London  at  tho  roquostof  tbo 
(lecoftsed.*  In  tho  absence  of  all  other  information  wo  can 
ineroly  rocord  tho  fact. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

llifcalcd  nUemptn  to  find  a  pansncfe  through  the  new  lands  of 
America  to  reach  the  eantern  nhorc  of  Asia. — Magellan. — liescnt- 
wmtoj  Portugal  agahid  S'pain  orhacconntofhin  voyage. 

Wk  liavo  at  last  reached  a  place  where  wo  are  no  longer 

lolilif^Pfl  to  f^rope  our  way,  but  may  run  on  swiftly  for  a  while. 

Hut  hoUnv  going  back  to  speak  directly  of  Sebastian   Cabot, 

Ideem  it  best  to  cast  a  glance  around  us  to  recognize  the 

place  and  time  in  which  we  now  are.   Let  not  the  reader 

take  it  ill  if  I  go  back  a  little  and  refresh  his  memory  of  some 

llliiiijfs.  If  for  a  moment  I  leave  the  straight  path  of  our 

|8t(iry,the  short  time  spent  will  be  well  rewarded  by  the  greater 

|clciirness  acquired  by  the  things  we  shall  afterwards  say. 

Tho  problem  which  at  this  time  agitated  the  mind  of  Span- 
lisli  iiiarinors  was  the  same  which  troubled  the  English  sea- 
Imen's  mind,  to  find  a  way  across  the  new  countries  of  Amer- 
lica  whicli  allowed  direct  navigation  from  our  regions  to  those 
lof  tho  extreme  east.  But  many  as  the  reasons  were  which 
Icounsolled  England  to  seek  it  by  way  of  the  north,  Spain 
[had  just  as  many  to  lead  her  to  seek  it  instead  by  way  of  the 
outh. 

Before  Spain,  the  Portuguese  had  labored  to  discover  a  pas- 
a|i;o  south  of  Brazil,  but  in  consequence  of  the  unsatisfactory 

*"Item  paide  the  XVIIth  day  of  feb.  to  John  Goderyk  of  Tory  in  the  countie 
Oornewall  drap  in  full  satysfacon  and  recompense  of  his  charge  costis  and 

jibour  conduclyng  of  Sebastian  Cabolt  master  of  the  Pylotes  in  Spayne  to 

ondonaithe  request  of  the  testator  by  Indenture  of  covenauntes43s4d." 
"Expenses  of  the  funeral  of  sir  Tliom.  Lovell,  knt.  of  the  garter,  who  died  at 
•  manor  of  Essynges,  in  Endfield,  Midlesex,  25  may  1524,  paid  by  his  ex- 

ICutors."  1. 8.  Brewer,  Calendar  Domestic  and  Foreign,  Henry  VIII,  t.  iv,  Part. 

h  154,  N.  366. 


J 


Trr"'*V»r.:v;j 


148 


THE  LIFE  OF  SEBASTIAN  CABOT. 


results    of  the   expeditions   of   1501    and    1503,  they  had 
given  up  the  thought  and  turned  all  their  attention  afainto 
the  passage  which  the  fortunes  of  Yasco  de  Gama  liad  opoi.tj 
Thus  while  the  Spaniards  wore  themselves  out  in  lookinirfor 
a  passage  by  which  to  bring  the  treasures  of  Asia  uciops  tlie 
West  Indies,  the  Portuguese,  partly  by  treaties  and  partly  k 
wars,  went  on  extending  their  possessions  in  the  Kast  Indic-s 
and  the  hope  of  new  and  unheard-of  wealth  for  their  countrv, 
Among  their  most  distinguished  ofhcers  in  these  coll(^uw^ 
was  Ferdinand  de  Magalhaens  or,  as  he  is  usually  named  in  \,i<. 
tory,  Magellan,  avIio  from  the  experience  acquired  in  tlioje 
regions  and  the  study  and  reflection  he  joined  with  exporicmt, 
conscious  of  his  ability  not  only  to  leave  the  common  herd  of  I 
ofhcers,  but  also  to  rise  to  first  amongst  the  first,  returned  to  | 
Europe  in  the  hope  of  obtaining  from  his  King  a  mm. 
worthy  of  the  gifts  he  felt  he  possessed.     But  his  lioperej 
altogether  frustrated.       Then  exasperated  at  his  King  and  I 
country,  he  took  himself  to  Spain  and  offered  his  services  to  j 
Charles  V,  peisuruling  him  that  the  Molucca  Islands  in  the  Lid- 
ian  Oce{i!i  over  which  Portugal  had  already  extended  her  do- 1 
minion,  were  beyond  tlie  line  of  partition  and  hclonf^od  to 
S^)ain  ;  and  he  offered  to  take  Spanish  vessels  tliither,  dis- 
covering the  passage  so  long  sought  after  in  the  seas  of  Soiitli  j 
Amei  ica. 

His  propoaid  was  favorably  entertained  and  preparations  j 
begun. 

When  this  was  known,  in  Portugal  there  was  great  e.xoite- j 
ment  as  at  an  attempt  on  the  rights  of  the  Portuguese  Crown, 
and  strong  remonstrance  was  made  to  the  court  of  8paiii 
Prayers  and  threats  were  tried  in  turn  on  Magelhui,  to  calm 
his  resentment  or  frighten  him  into  withdrawing  from  iiio en- 
terprise   for    which    he   was   preparing  :    his    assasi-iir.ati'jii j 
waseviMi  opcMily  spoken  of,  saying  that  a  perjured  citizeinvliol 
attempted  sucli  injury  to  his    country  merited  tlio  cruebt 
death.*  When  all  tliis  faik^d,  recourse  was  had  to  lidknk 
turning  into  jest  Magellan's  presumption,  his  dreams, and] 


*  "y  Dtios  ftconsenjiiviin  que  los  matassen.  porque el  negocio  quo  Iratavan.cn 
perjudicial  a  Portugal."    Ileneia,  Dec.  ii,  lib.  iv,  cap.  10 


mmt 


DISPUTE  BETWIOI'Hs'  SPAIN  AND  POUTUGAL. 


149 


Spain's  credulity.*  But  this  new  weapon  proved  as  blunt 
IS  the  otliers,  and  on  September  20,  1519,  Magellan  sailed. 
*'It  k  outside  of  our  subjeet  to  relate  the  endless  labors,  the 
luinffcr,  the  struggles  endured  by  Magellan's  expedition  ;  the 
JKico  energy  with  which  he  dragged  after  him  rebellious 
(itHcors  and  sailors  ;  his  death  at  the  moment  of  victory  ;  the 
r;i<'0  of  the  Portuguese  and  the  cruel  war  they  made  on  the 
weak  renuiant  of  the  glorious  expedition.  For  our  purpose 
it  suffices  to  record  that  on  September  8,  1522,  more  than 
three  years  after  the  sailing  of  the  expedition,  the  news  reached 
Spain  that  the  passage  to  the  East  Indies  across  the 
New  World  was  found,  and  that  the  Spanish  flag  had 
I  made  the  circuit  of  the  globe. 

Bud  of  the  five  ships  that  sailed,  only  the  Victoria  returned 
I  to  Spain,  and  of  all  the  bold  and  hardy  youths  that  were  on 
the  live  ships,  only  18  men  saw  their  native  land  again. 

The  losses  suffered  by  the  expedition  in  men  and  property 
[were  enormous,  but  after  the  discovery  of  the  New  World, 
f  the  greatest  and  most  glorious  uf  so  many  glorious  enterprises, 
in  those  days  so  celebrated  for  the  feverish  activity  of  discover- 
ies and  navigations,  was  the  finding  of  the  much-sought  pas- 
s;ii,'c  through  the  American  lands  to  those  of  the  East,  and 
[making  the  circuit  all  around  the  World.    The  rejoicing  over 
lie  great  event  prevented  grief  and  complaint  from  being 
Ihoard,  and  the  great  hopes  it  gave  of  the  future  compensated 
pvitli  interest  the  losses  of  the  present.      Whilst  on  one  hand, 
the  fancy  of  adventurers,  of  men  of  letters,  of  all  who  were 
liiiterested  in  the  glory  of  those  discoveries,  roamed  on  the  new 
[broad  horizons  which  Magellan's  discovery  had  opened,  the 
jgreed  of  merchants  seized  ar.iously  on  the  specimens  which 
[llie  Victoria  brought  back,  and  counted  the  vast  wealth  which 
Ihat  discovery  promised.      Orders  were  at  once  given  to  pre- 
piire  a  fleet  for  those  parts,  and  when  it  sailed  they  set  to 
ftmktofit  out  another  to  follow  it  as  soon  as  might  be.f 

•"Deciau  los Portugueses  que  el  Rey  do  C.istillii  peidcria  el  uusto  porque 
Beruaiido  dc  Miigallanes  era  hombre  hablador  i  de  poca  substanciu,  i  que  non 
•alilria  con  lo  que  promctia.  "—Id.  lb. 
t  "  Se  avia  maadato,  que  luogoae  apercibiesse  «na  armada,  y  que  partida 


ill 

U 

\%^  ^   ^f'^T-^ 


i 

V 

W 


* 


150 


THE  LIFE  OF  SEBASTIAN  CABOT. 


But  great  as  was  the  rejoicing  which  the  return  of  the  Vic- 
toria spread  over  all  Spain,  not  less  strong  and  loud  waslho 
wail  of  sorrow  throughout  Portugal.  Every  one  saw  and  felt 
that  the  meddling  of  another  Power  in  the  treasures  of  those 
regions  was  a  disaster  to  the  commerce  of  Portugal,  the  con- 
sequences of  which  were  beyond  calculation.  When  the  King 
learned  of  the  preparations  making  to  send  another  Heet 
to  the  Moluccas,  he  began  to  storm  the  Spanish  Monardi 
with  remonstrances,  using  prayers  and  threats,  every  means 
possible,  to  stay  Spain  at  that  first  step  ;  and  proposed 
that  the  matter  should  be  suspended  until  it  was  ascertained 
whether  the  Moluccas  were  on  this  side  or  that  of  the  line  of 
partition.* 

The  Emperor  saw  clearly  what  was  Portugal's  object  in  mak- 
ing this  proposal :  it  was  to  stop  the  Spaniards  in  their  prei> 
arations  for  the  expedition,  so  that  he  might  gain  the  time 
needed  to  place  arms  and  ships  enough  in  those  islands  to 
use  force,  when  other  means  failed,  and  save  his  Kingdom 
from  the  threatened  ruin.  But  it  was  important  for  Clianles 
V,  engaged  as  he  then  was  in  a  war  with  Francis  I,  King  of 
France,  troubled  with  the  Reform  in  Germany,  and  constantly 
threatened  with  revolt  in  Spain,  not  to  bring  on  himself  this 
new  enemy.  On  the  other  hand,  the  question  of  the  right  of  pos- 
session had  been  so  thoroughly  studied  and  discussed  before 
Magellan's  proposal  was  .'accepted  that  he  could  atFord  townit 
calmly  for  the  report  of  a  commission.  He  therefore  showed 
a  good  face  to  King  John's  proposal,  and  it  was  agreed  to  re- 
mit the  question  to  a  conference  of  competent  persons  nomi- 


aqtiella,  se  pusiesse  otra  a  puuto,  que  la  siguiesse."     Hcnera,  Dec.  iii,  lib.vi 
cap.  5. 

*  "El  Rey  don  Ivan  de  PortURal,  que  de  todo  era  avlsado,  parecieiidoleqnf 
se  le  salia  de  las  manos,  el  rnejor  y  mas  rico  aprovechamiento  que  tenia,  hiw 
muclios  oficios  con  el  Hey,  para  que  no  se  embiasse  armada  a  las  islas  de  laEs 
peceria,  hasta  que  so  determinasse  a  quien  partenencian  :  y  que  no  se  le  liiz 
iesae  tanto  daflo,  como  eraquitarlc  su  aprovi-clianiiento,  ni  que  se  diesseoca 
sion  a  que  se  malassen  los  Portugueses  con  los  Castellanos,  como  lohariaii 
topandose  la  una  armada  con  la  otra.  .  ."  Herrera,  Dec.  iii,  lib.  vii,  cap.  v 
And  Pietro  Martire".  .  .  .quo  pacto  cum  Portugalensibus  concludetur,  quis* 
iacturam  ingentem  perpessuros  ex  hoc  negocio  conqueruutur,  significabimus 
Dec.  V,  cap.  vii. 


INTENDED  VOYAGE  TO  THE  MOLUCCAS. 


151 


nated  by  both  sides.  *  The  Eraj^eror  desired  to  associate  with 
the  conference,  a  committee  of  some  of  the  most  esteemed  cos- 
moiTaphers  and  geographers  of  his  Kingdom,  to  aid  the  dis- 
cussion by  tlieir  advice  and  report  to  him  on  its  progress.  Se- 
bastian Cabot  was  a  member  of  this  committee.f  The  conference 
mot  in  April,  1524,  but  as  Portugal's  interest  was  to  have  mat- 
ters drag  on  as  slowly  as  possible,  there  was  much  discussion 
but  no  conclusion  come  to,  till  the  Spanish  Deputies  tired  of 
the  game  determined  to  end  it  and  on  May  31,  by  a  long  dec- 
laration with  their  reasons,  they  established  Spain's  right  to 
the  Molucca  Islands.;}: 

As  soon  as  the  declaration  was  received  in  Spain,  govern- 
ment and  private  individuals  set  to  work  eagerly  to  make  up 
for  lost  time.  Not  two  months  had  elapsed  when,  on  July  24, 
Uoniinander  Loaysa  sailed  from  Corunna  with  seven  ships  to 
help  Magellan's  men  who  had  been  left  in  the  islands  of  the 
Ocean,  and  secure  to  Spain  possession  of  the  Moluccas.§ 


CHAPTER  XV. 

Sebastian  Cahot  put  at  the  head  of  an  expedition  to  the  Moluccas. 

While  the  government  was  supplying  arms  and  provisions 
lor  Loaysa's  fleet,  and  sending  it  to  the  new  possessions  in  the 


*"Aunque  el  Rey  conoci    bien,  que  esto  era  dilacion,  para  queentretauto 

tiiviesstii  lionipo  los  Portugueses  de  entrarseen  las  Islas y  sabia  que  el 

iicyde  l'u\  igal  embiava  ordenes  y  gentc  par  elio,  avieudo  passado  muchas 
'  aibaxadns,  iilicas  de  una  parte  a  otra  .  .  pnrque  la  voluutud  del  Emperador 
inuieconsei  \  r  con  el  Key  de  Portugal  su  deudo  y  amistad..etc."  ib.  cap.  5-6. 

t  El  Emperi;dor,...mand6  yr  a  essa  Junta  a  otros  Cosmogrofos,  y  Pilotos, 
niaestros  dehazer  cartas  de  navegar  .    .    .   para  la  declaracion  del  sitin  de  las 

■'!'»» .  . que  eran  Sebastian  Gaboto  &n.  .  .  ."  Id.  ib.  cap.  6.— Cabot  gave 

i'is  opinion  in  writing,  jointly  wiMi  Friars  Thomas  Duran  and  .John  Vespucci, 
Americo's  nephew.  -  See  Navarrcte  iv,  no.  xxxv,  p.  339.  ed.  1837. 

t  Navarrete,  ib.  No.  xxxvii,  p.  343.-Tlic  first  signature  to  the  Declaration  was 
iliiit  of  Fernando  Columbus,  son  of  Christopher  Columbus.  See  also  llerrera, 
Oec.  iii,  lib.  vi,  cap.  viii. 

§Herrera,  Dec.  iii,  lib.  vii.  — Oviedo,  Part  ii,  lib.  80,  cap.  4. 


152 


THE  LIFE  OP  SEBASTIAN  CABOT. 


i;i 


Indian  Ocean,  a  company  was  formed  and  organized  among 
the  merchants  of  Seville  for  a  commercial  expedition  to  the 
same  places,  ■with  all  the  more  hope  and  contidencc  of  groat 
profits  because  Cabot,  whose  authority  as  Pilot-Major  was  nat- 
urally regarded  as  of  the  greatest  weight  in  such  matters,  had 
expressed  the  opinion  that  other  islands  besides  those  dis- 
covered were  scattered  over  those  seas,  and  not  less  deserv- 
ing of  exploration  than  the  Moluccas.*  Some  English  mer- 
chants were  associated  with  the  Spanish,  among  others 
Robert  Thorne,  whose  memorial  to  Henry  VIII,  urging  tlie 
search  for  a  northern  passage  to  Asia,  has  been  spoken  of  in 
our  Tenth  Chapter.f 

To  assure  the  success  of  this  expedition,  the  mercliants' 
company  thought  of  giving  the  command  of  it  to  the  Pilot- 
Major  himself :{:  The  supreme  council  of  the  Indies  approved 
ot  their  wish,  and  in  September  gave  Cabot  permission  to 
take  charge  of  the  expedition. §  Well  pleased  with  the  duty, 
he  at  once  set  about  making  his  preparations.  But  however 
honorable  the  office  of  directing  a  company  of  merchants,  it 
was  but  ill  suited  to  his  genius  as  a  discoverer  :  he  felt  himself 
invited  to  storms  in  new  seas,  the  anxiety  of  dangers  unseen 
by  others,  and  the  delight  and  glory  of  pointing  out  to  the 
world  the  discovery  of  new  lands  and  peoples.  He  had  there- 
fore hardly  accepted  the  new  charge  before  he  devoted 
his  whole  energy  to  drawing  the  government  into  the  enter- 
prise, and  from  a  mercantile  one,  as  it  was,  to  give  it  an  en- 
tirely different  direction,  throwing  the  whole  weight  of  it  on 
the  royal  treasury,  and  leaving  the  merchants  only  the  bur- 
den of  providing  the  necessary  funds  for  trading. 

To  this  end,  towards  the  middle  of  September,  he  proceeded 


*  Henera,   Dec.ni,  lib.  iv,  cap.  20.  +  Hakluyt,  vol.  i,  p.  215. 

t"Liis  muesUas  quo  la  iino  Victoria  tinxo  de  In.s  espteias,  y  otrascosasdflds 
M()]uco.s,  dio  animo  a  iiiiiclios  liombres  de  Sevilla,  para  solicitar  a  Bcbastiiiu 
Gabotn,  Piloto  mayor  del  Rey  a  ofrecer  de  liazer  a  quel  viage,  promelicDdo  de 
arniarle  para  ci."— Ilerrera,  Dec.  iii,  lib.  x,  cap.  i. 

§"Spenimus  fore  ut  Sebrtstiaiins  Cabotiis  Baccalorum  repcrtor,  cui  circilcr 
Kal.  Septenibris  siipplicanti,  ex  ncRtri  senatURaiictoritate  permissa  est  iiaviga- 
tionis  perquiiendae  potcstas,  l/Teviore  tempore  ac  felicioiibus  avibim  sit  red- 
Ilunis,  quam  Victoria  uavia."  P.  Martire  (rAiigUiern,  Dec.  vii,  cap.  6. 


THE  MOLUCCAS  EXPEDITION. 


153 


fii 


to  court,  and  setting  forth  the  groat  advantages  of  the  coop- 
eration <)f  the  merchants  of  tSevi lie,  he  asked  the  government 
for  four  sliips  furnished  and  equipped  with  every  thing 
needed.*  The  government  approved  of  Cahot's  views,  and  on 
March  4,  1525,  the  conditions  of  its  concurrence  in  the  expedi- 
tion were  agreed  on.  After  fixing  the  proportion  of  the  ex- 
penses and  profits  of  the  government  and  of  tlie  jnercliants' 
company,  it  was  settled  that  Cahotsliould  have  with  him  not 
less  than  three  ships,  with  autliority  to  increase  the  number 
to  six,  of  the  burden  and  crews  tixed  upon,  and  ho  should  sail 
by  Magellan's  Strait  to  the  Moluccas  and  other  islands  in 
those  regions.  From  there  he  was  to  go  in  search  of  the  isl- 
ands of  Tarshish  and  Opliir,  of  Eastern  Cathay,  and  of 
Cipango,  loading  at  each  of  these  places  and  others  that  he 
siiould  discover  along  his  passage,  all  the  gold,  silver,  precious 
stones,  pearls,  and  the  like,  that  he  could  find,  f  On  his  re- 
turn he  was  to  sail  close  along  the  whole  southern  coast  of  the 
new  continent  of  America.;}:  It  is  unnecessary  to  say  that 
Cathay  corresponds  to  the  northern  part  of  the  modern  empire 
of  (!hina,  Ophir  and  Tarshish  are  places  mentioned  in  the 
Bihle  ;  from  the  former  Solomon  with  his  fleet  brought  great 
quantities  of  gold  ;§  and  the  latter  is  named  in  one  of  the 

*"Qimtuor  navium  classiculam,  omnibus  ad  rem  maritimiim  facientibus  et 
cnminodis  tormentonim  vasis  paratam,  ab  Caesareo  aeraiio  Cabotus  poposclt, 
socios  ait  se  repurissc  Hispali,  quae  Sebilla  dicitiir,  comiuerciorum  omnium  la- 
dioortiin  emporio,  qui  sub  spe  raagni  liicri,  ud  classicule  commcatumot  caetera 
nt'cessaria,  ducalorum  decern  milliiim  sua  sponte  summam  obtwleiitit.  Ad 
offeremlam  partecipum  snciorum  obligaliouem  circiter  idus  seplembiis  a  nobis 
(iiiuissiB  est  Cabotus."  Id.  ib. 

t  "...  .a  quatiode  Maipo  del  afio  passado  de  rail  quinientos  y  veyute  cinco, 
capitulo  con  el  Key  en  Madrid,  que  yria  con  tics  navios  o  mas,  hasta  seys,  por 

el  estreclio  de  Magallanes en  dcmauda  de  las  islas  de  Molueos,  y  de  laa 

tiemas  que  avian  sido  descubiertas .  .  .  .  y  ansi  iiiisnio  en  hiiHfii  de  Iuh  otras 
isliisy  tierras  de  Tursis,  Oflr,  y  el  Cafajo  Oriental,  y  Cipango.  .  .|.ara car- 
gar  Ids  navios  del  oro,  plata,  y  piedras  preciosas,  perlus  etc  ...  .  que  hallasse, 
assi  en  aquellas  islas,  como  en  otras  tierra*,  ((ue  en  el  viage  descubriessc.  .  .  ." 
Herrera,  Dec.  iii,  lib.  x,  cap.  i,  E.  Ajip   N   xxxix. 

t  "His  perlustratis  et  prudenti  dilijiciitia  pertractatis,  nostri  putati  contin- 
emis  latus  australe  universum  abradent."  Pielro  Marlire  d'Angbiera,  Dec.  vii, 
cap.  6. 

8  "Classim  quoque  fecit  rex  Salomon misitque  ....  in  classe  ilia 


:^t 


«  • 


■  I.! 

■■■  n 


A 


mi-M 


154 


THE  LIFE  OF  SEBASTIAN  CABOT, 


Pscalms  iis  a  very  rich  place,  from  which  men  were  to  come  with 
gifts  to  the  Messiah.* 

It  was  long  disputed  among  interpreters  of  the  Bible  where 
these  two  places  were  situated  and  to  what  modern  lands 
they  correspond,  and  the  most  divergent  opinions  were;  put 
forward.  It  is  enough  for  our  purpose  that  both  were  gen- 
erally placed  in  the  east,  and  as  imagination  had  grcilly 
worked  up  the  wealth  of  those  places,  the  desire  to  louth 
them  was  one  of  the  most  cherished  dreams  of  navigators 
and  discoverers.  There  was  still  greater  desire  to  reach  the 
island  of  Cipango,  "abounding  with  gold,  pearls,  and  gems," 
as  Paul  Toscanelli,  the  physician,  wrote  to  Canon  Fernando 
Martinez  of  Lisbon,  "and  the  temples  and  royal  dwellings 
are  roofed  with  plates  of  gold."f  Marco  Polo  had  said  that 
this  island  was  to  be  found  fifteen  hundred  miles  from  Cathay. 
Columbus  was  enraptured  with  delight  when  he  thought  he 
had  arrived  there. 

The  departure  of  the  expedition  was  set  for  August  of 
that  year  1525  ; ;{:  but  a  serious  controversy  between  Sebastian 
Cabot  and  the  merchants'  company  prevented  it.  He  wanted 
for  his  lieutenant  on  the  expedition  Michael  de  Rufis,  the 
others  wanted  him  to  take  Martin  Mendez.§  Cabot  supported 
his  selection  bv  the  fact  that  Rufis  had  added  a  caravel  to 
the  expedition  at  his  own  expense,  which  seemed  to  give  him 
a  claim  on  the  second  position.  But  the  others  set  up  the  ex- 
perience of  Mendez,  who  had  been  commissary  of  subsistence 


servos  suos  viros  nauticos  et  gnaros  maris  ....  Qui  cum  venissent  in  Opliir 
sumptiim  indc  aurutn  420  talentonim  detulerunt  ad  recem  Salomoncm.  "Keg. 
iii,  ix,  26-28  :  el  ib.  x.  2  .  .  .  "Classls  ....  quae  porlabat  auvum  de  (Jpliir, 
attulit  ex  Ophir  ligna  tiiyina  multa  nimis  et  gemmas  pretiosas.  .  .  .  Nont  sunt 
allata  hujuscemodi  ligna  Ihyina,  neque  visa  usque  in  praesentem  diem." 

*  "Reges  Tliarsis  et  insuloe  munera  ofiferent,  reges  Arabum  et  Saba  dona 
adducent."  Ps.  Ixxi,   10. 

+  Fernando  Colombo,  Historie,  cap.  8— See  Tarducci,  Life  of  Columbus,  i, 
p.  58. 

t  "Est  Cabotus  Augusto  mense  proximi  MDXXV  dfscessurus,"  Peter 
Martyr  d'Anghiera,  1.  c. 

§  "Los  Diputados  de  los  armidores,  por  diferencias  que  con  el  general 
avian  tenido,  quisieron  que  fuesse  Martin  Mendez,  y  no  Miguel  de  Rufis 
aquien  preteudia  Uevar  en  este  cargo  Sebastian  Gaboto."  Herrera.  1.  c. 


III.-        -     r 


DISPUTE  WITH  THE  MERCHANTS. 


155 


on  Maf?cllan's  expedition,  and  was  one  of  the  honored  sur- 
vivors that  returned  with  tiie  Victoria.  This  was  the  ap- 
parent cause  of  tlie  dispute,  but  the  real  cause  must  be  looked 
for  in  the  wrath  of  the  merchants  at  the  new  direction  given 
to  their  undertaking.  We  liave  no  light  by  which  to  see  in- 
to the  proceedings  ;  but  from  the  nature  of  the  facts  them- 
selves it  seems  to  me  possible  to  draw  the  conviction  that  the 
merchants  could  not  have  felt  satisfied  that  the  expedition 
should  exceed  the  modest  limits  of  a  commercial  enterprise, 
within  which  it  was  first  conceived,  and  should  take  on  the 
character  and  scope  of  a  regular  exploration  and  discovery. 
AihI  F  am  of  opinion  that  they  found  themselves  bound  to 
the  government  either  by  surprise  or  want  of  courage  and 
strength  to  resist.  And  in  truth  they  had  looked  for  sure 
gain  from  the  Molucca  Islands,  already  discovered  and  visited; 
but  Cabot  was  dragging  them  on  anew  uncertain  expedition, 
all  the  more  dangerous  for  the  vastness  of  the  field  he  pro- 
posed to  cover  ;  they  were  looking  for  gold,  Cabot  for 
glory.  In  such  circumstances  the  choice  of  a  lieutenant 
became  a  matter  of  the  highest  importance  to  the  mer- 
chants ;  for,  to  let  Cabot  liave  one  who  would  be  his 
tool,  devoted  to  his  will,  was  the  same  as  surrendering 
themselves  bound  hand  and  foot  into  his  power,  and  to  let 
him  guide  and  lead  the  expedition  where  and  how  he 
pleased. 

Cabot  found  it  hard  enough  to  hold  his  side  of  the  ques- 
tion, for  the  fact  that  Mendez  had  already  gone  over  the 
same  course  naturally  pointed  him  out  for  the  position,  and 
the  celebrity  which  clung  to  him  as  one  of  the  few  survivors 
of  that  famous  expedition  drew  attention  to  him  and  made 
his  appointment  acceptable  to  all.  But  he  held  firm,  under- 
standing perfectly  the  merchants'  object,  and  that  to  take  as 
lieutenant  a  creature  of  theirs,  was  like  hanging  a  stick  be- 
tween his  legs  to  impede  his  journey.  The  dispute  became 
bitter,  and  as  neither  side  would  yield  to  the  other,  the  mer- 
chants, feeling  that  in  their  proposal  they  had  the  wall 
against  their  back,  applied  to  the  Emperor.  They  not  only 
applied  to  him  in  order  to  win  their  cause  in  the  question  of 


156 


THE  LIFE  OP  SEBASTIAN  CABOT. 


I 


a  lieutenant,  but,  as  often  happens  in  like  cases  of  deep  and 
lively  exasperation  that  the  eye  sees  every  thing  wrong  where 
all  was  clear  and  fair  before,  the  merchants  loaded  Cabot 
with  so  many  and  so  serious  charges  that  they  demanded  to 
have  the  command  taken  away  from  him  altogether,  and 
Captain  Francis  do  Rojas  put  in  his  place.*  The  sailing  of 
the  expedition  was  delayed  in  consequence. 

It  was  a  case  that  required  a  clean  cut,  free  and  resolute, 
without  timidity  or  uncertainty  ;  the  violent  operation  causes 
severe  pain,  but  at  least  one  of  the  parts  gets  well  again.  To 
take  a  middle  course,  and  for  fear  of  hurting  one  side  or  the 
other  too  much,  try  to  divide  the  evil  in  halves,  and  by  taking 
a  little  from  one  and  a  little  from  the  other,  hope  to  keep 
them  united,  is  to  lose  one's  labor,  and  end  with  the  opposite 
of  what  was  intended,  for  it  leaves  both  in  pain,  and  makes 
the  exasperation  between  them  more  vivid  and  deep. 

Charles  V  unfortunately  followed  this  course.  He  sum- 
moned the  deputies  of  the  company,  and  showed  them  what 
a  scandal  would  follow  the  substitution  of  another  captain  in 
command  of  the  expedition,  and  induced  them  to  be  satisfied 
with  Mendez,  their  choice,  being  appointed  as  its  lieutenant ; 
and  hoped  to  quiet  Cabot  in  the  humiliation  to  which  he  was 
subjected  by  the  enforced  acceptance  of  Mendez,  by  declaring 
that  the  latter  "should  only  meddle  with  things  that  Cabot 
put  under  his  charge,  and  only  represent  him  when  absent  or 
unable  to  act,  and  not  interfere  in  any  other  way."f 

*  "Los  Diputfidos  ....  avian  llevado  al  Rey  un  memorial,  poniendo  tantos 
defetos  en  l;i  persona  do  Qabnto,  que  qiiando  el  armada  no  estuviera  tan  ade- 
lante,  y  tuviera  tanta  voluntad  ques  aliera  con  brevedad,  le  maudara  quediir." 
—  Herrera,  1.  c. 

Item  si  saben  etc.  que  estando  proveydo  el  dicho  Sebastian  gaboto  por  cap- 
itan  general  dela  dicba  armada  losarmadores  y  diputados  della  procuraron  vistn 
la  ynavilidad  y  poco  valor  de  persona  suya  che  su  magestad  le  q<iitase  el  dicho 
cargo  y  proveyese  del  al  dicho  capitan  Francisco  de  Rojas  N.  3  of  tbe  Inter- 
rogatories presented  by  Rojas  bimself  against  Sebastian  Cabot.    See.  App.  n. 

XXXV. 

t  "El  Rey a  todos  los  compuso,  y  sossego  :  y  poniendo  les  por  delante 

el  escandalo,  y  inconveniente  que  de  aquetla  division  sucederia,  con  que  se  sos- 
segaron  en  parte  ....  Martin  Mendez  ....  fue  provehido  por  Teniente  gen- 
eral, con  que  no  se  occupasse,  sino  en  las  cosas  que  el  General  le  cometiessc,  y 
estendo  ausente,  o  impedido,  no  de  otra  manera."  —  Herrera,  1.  c. 


MENDEZ  DISSATISFIED. 


157 


The  sad  effects  of  this  arrangement  were  soon  seen.  The  Hoot 
was  at  San  Lucar  de  Barrameda,  only  waiting  for  a  fair  wind 
to  set  sail,when  Mendoz  suddenly  took  his  things  and  hurried 
to  Seville  to  the  council  of  the  Indies  to  make  his  complaint 
and  hand  in  his  resignation.  Catharine  Vasquez,  his  mother, 
ill  her  prosecution  of  Sebastian  (Jabot  j^cars  after,  accuses  him 
of  showing  ill-will  towards  her  son,  treating  him  unfairly,  and 
being  his  enemy,  not  being  able  to  endure  which  her  son  left 
and  went  to  give  up  his  office.*  But  her  witnesses  while  con- 
firming Mendez's  sudden  departure  from  the  ship  and  his  go- 
inf  to  Seville,  say  nothing  of  any  bad  treatment  or  want  of  con- 
sideration of  him  on  Cabot's  part;  although  it  would  have  been 
plain  to  everybody  and  there  ought  to  have  been  no  difficulty 
in  finding  witnesses.  Only  one  of  the  witnesses  speaks  of  it,  and 
as  a  thing  he  had  heard  from  Captain  Francis  de  Rojas,  that  is 
to  say,  from  a  worse  enemy  of  Cabot's  than  Mendez  himself  On 
the  other  hand  it  is  not  at  all  likely  that  Cabot  would  have 
been  imprudent  enough  openly  to  disregard  the  Emperor's 
orders  just  received,  and  right  before  his  eyes,  for  Charles  V 
was  then  at  Seville,  f  The  charge  of  Vasquez  should  then  be 
taken  with  discretion,  namely,  that  Cabot  in  his  state  of  irri- 
tation against  Mendez,  did  not  hold  him  in  that  consideration 
which  was  due  to  the  office  of  lieutenant,  and  Mendez,  irritated 
in  turn  against  Cabot,  gave  undue  weight  to  this  neglect,  or  else 
arguing  from  this  commencement  what  might  bcexi)Octed  later 
on,  determined  to  provide  for  it  at  onco  and  protect  himself. 
The  Bishop  of  Osma,  President  of  the  council  of  the  Indies, 
quieted  Mendez  with  fair  words,  and  promising  that  things 
should  change,  sent  him  back  to  the  fleet.;}:  He  then  sum- 
moned Cabot  before  him,  and  also  Rifos,  whom  Cabot  employed 


*"....el  dicliomarlin  Mendez.... viendo  1m  mula  volunlad  eniiil  tiatmniento  e 
obios  de  enemistiid  que  le  Imzia  el  diclio  selKislian  ciiboto  y  In  poca  ciientas 
que  hazia  del.  se  determiiio  del  lK)lver....e  viiiouquexare  que.\6  a  los  .'senores 
presidente  e  oydores  del  Consejo  Kual  de  lis  yudias. . . ."  Sestii  Pm/iinta  de  la 
Pfovnnfa  de  Catalina  Vasquez,  madre  de  Martin  Mendez.— App.  xxxlv, 

+  /6.  Id.  ix  witnesa. 

t  lb.  viii  Pregunta.— Osma  is  a  city  of  Old  Castile  in  Spain,  on  arj  affluent  of 
the  Douro.  -  y  •.      , 


158 


THE  LIFE  OF  SEIUSTIAN  CABOT. 


.tsn 


in  all  matters  that  should  have  fallen  to  Mendez,  and  according 
to  Vasquez's  charge,  severely  rejn-iinanded  and  threalcned 
them,  and  his  threats  were  speciiilly  severe  upon  Kifos  if  Jio 
should  interfere  with  the  duties  helonging  to  Mendez.*  'J'Ik'so 
last  words  are  sufficient  of  themselves  to  show  how  exa^ru,'!-. 
ated  is  the  (sharge  made  by  Vasquez;  for  to  threaten  Rifos  it  he 
interfered  with  the  duties  l>elonging  to  the  lieutenant,  wns  tlio 
same  thing  as  to  threaten  him  if  he  obeyed  tlie  orders  of  thcHii- 
preme  cominunder  ol  the  fleet,  since  it  is  natural  that  he  should 
interfere  when  and  where  his  superior  conimanded  ;  and  be- 
sides, the  Emperor  having  ordered  that  Mendez  should  only 
meddle  with  such  matters  as  the  General  gave  him  in  charge,  it 
follows  n  turally  that  the  (Jeneral  was  free  to  give  his  com- 
missions to  others.  It  is  also  to  be  observed  here  th.'it  the  wit- 
nesses refer  to  what  they  liad  heard  say  by  John  de  Junco, 
who  was  Cabot's  declared  enemy,  f 

I  see  plainly  that  more  than  one  reader  will  deem  it  super- 
fluous to  go  into  all  these  petty  details,  but  the  dearth  of 
documents  obi '  us  to  make  the  most  of  every  thing  to  get 
at  the  conditio).  >i'  things  and  minds  at  the  time  Cabot's  ex- 
pedition was  preparing.  For  this  purpose  we  must  even  ul- 
lude  to  another  serious  charge  in  the  proofs  of  Catharine  Vas- 
quez, although  not  the  slightest  support  was  given  it  by  any 
witness.  She  says  that  Catharine  de  Medrano,  Cabot's  wife, 
who  according  to  the  charge  possessed  great  influence  over 
her  husband,  after  vainly  trying  to  prevent  Mendez's 
appointment,  conceived  a  bitter  hatred  for  him,  and 
emi)loyed  a  person  to  assassinate  him.:j; 

But  much  more  serious  for  the  fate  of  the  expedition  is 
what  Cabot  himself  puts  in  the  third  interrogatory  of  his  an- 
swer. He  says  that  Mendez,  Rojas,  and  the  other  principal 
officers  of  the  fleet,  before  sailing,  held  a  secret  meeting  to- 


*  lb.  vii  Piegnnta. 

tPreguntaxxxiind  following,of  Sebastian  Cabot's  proofs  in  reply  to  the  accu- 
sation of  Vasqnez.  For  tbis  Iiostility  of  .John  de  .Tnuco  towards  Cabot  as  also 
for  that  of  Francis  de  Rojas  previously  mentioned,  the  reader  must  be  satisfied  to 
take  my  word,  and  wait  for  the  proof  in  the  proper  place. 

X  lb.  Prtgunta  v. 


THE  OFFICERS    ("ONSriKACY. 


159 


cethcr  in  Seville  in  St.  Paul's  clmreh,  and  thero  bound  them- 
selves by  an  oath  to  unite  on  every  occasion  against  Sel)astian 
Cabot  for  the  purpose  of  depriving  him  of  the  command  of 
the  expedition,  and  putting  liojas  in  his  place.  * 

Of  the  witnesses  called  by  him  to  sustiiin  this  serious  charge, 
onu  says  that  he  had  hoard  this  secret  meeting  and  the  oath 
taken  by  those  officers  spoken  of  in  Seville  even  before  they 
siiiKil,  and  gives  th(>  name  of  the  oHicor  who  told  him  of  it, 
liut  bo  was  not  informed  of  the  ol)ject  of  the  meeting  or  of  the 
oiitli.  f  The  others  all  unite  in  testifying  that  the  ail'air  was 
publicly  talked  of  in  the  fleet,  and  it  was  said  further  that  the 
oath  not  only  contemplated  the  removal  of  Sebastian  Cal)ot 
aiul  the  substitution  of  Captain  Rojas  in  his  place,  but  also  his 
munlor.:}: 

It  seems  hard  to  think  that  any  thing  so  serious  could  be  be- 
lieved and  publicly  rumored  without  some  basis  of  truth.  It 
limy  very  likely  have  been  exaggerated  in  the  men's  talk,  and 
reached  Cabot's  ears  in  that  shape,  but  there  must  have  been 
something  to  it.  If  there  was  a  nn'eting,  and  some  compact 
between  the  officers,  it  surely  was  not  in  Cabot's  favor  :  this 
is  certain  from  what  followed.  But  suppose  it  was  a  false  re- 
port, a  calumny  ;  its  spread  amongst  the  men  of  the  expedi- 
tion was  enough  of  itself  to  inoculate  the  whole  with  a  poi- 
son fatal  to  all  discipline  and  good  order. 


*"Yten  di  saben  questandoen  In  r/iMaii  de  sevilla  martin  mendez  e  francisco 
(le  Rojas  e  otros  miichos  que  yvaa  devaxo  de  la  capitania  del  dictio  se- 
bastiiin  caboto  se  juntaron  en  el  monesterio  de  san  pablo  dela  dicba  <;-ib(lad  e  ay 
86  conjuraron  de  ser  en  todo  lo  que  se  ofies(,iere  contra  el  dicho  Sebastian 
caboto  e  que  querian  alpar  al  dicho  Francisco  de  Rojas,  per  capltan  general." 
— Tercera  pregunta. 

\" estando  en  la  cibdad  de  sevilla  antes  que  fiiesen  a  sanlucar  de  bar- 

ramedacon  las  dichas  naos  oyo  dezir  nl  contador  Valdez  que  se  juntaron  el 
(liobo  capitan  Rojas  e  los  otros  capitanes  y  oflciales  que  yviin  en  la  dicba 
armada  e  que  avian  fecho  un  juramcnto  en  san  pablo  o  en  san  francisc.i  de 
eebilla  pero  que  no  le  dixo  para  que  ni  para  que  no  ....  "  ix  testigo. 

t  For  tbesake  of  brevity  I  give  only  a  few  word.s  of  the  tenth  witness  "... 
yendo  c.^to  dicho  testigr  n  la  dicba  armada  oyo  dec  ir  publicamente  a  la  gente 
(le  la  dicha  armada  .  que  avian  fecho  Francisco  do  Rojas  e  martin  men- 

<lez....  concilio  contr^  iicho  Sebastian  caboto  para  Ic  matar  e  al9ar  por  capi- 
tan general  al  dicho  francisco  de  Rojas. " 

The  witness  was  a  sailor  of  the  expedition. 


100 


THE  LIFE  OF  SEI5AHTIAN  CABOT. 


Tliis  wickedness  no  doubt  originated  in  the  animosity  of  the 
merchants  tovvnrds  Sebastian  Cabot  ;  but  it  appears  from  the 
very  coniniencement  so  extensive  and  so  deep  that  it  cannot  he 
exphiincd  l)y  that  alone.  They  wanted,  it  is  true,  and  cikKhv- 
ored  his  ruin,  but  here  are  evident  symptoms  of  the  ruin  uiid 
deatli  oftiio  whole  expedition.  This  the  merchants  could  not 
have  intended,  for  it  was  a  blow  at  themselves  and  their  own 
interests.  Wo  must  then  look  elsewhere.  To  understand  the 
matter  well,  we  must  remember  Portugal's  alarm,  when  y]'v 
learned  of  Magellan's  expedition  preparing,  the  elForts  made  to 
hinder  its  fitting  out,  to  stop  its  progress,  to  destroy  it  wlion  il 
reached  its  goal.  Then  the  cry  of  grief  at  the  return  of  the  Vic- 
toria,  the  protests,  complaints,  prayers  of  the  Portuguese  King 
that  Spain  would  not  invade  the  rights  of  his  crown:  in  line.his 
subterfuges  and  craft  to  delay  the  conference  and  not  come  to 
any  decision.  When  afterwards,  on  the  declaration  of  the 
Spanish  Delegates,  Spain  insisted  on  the  recognition  of  hit 
rights  an<l  ordered  the  preparations  for  Loaysa's  departure  to 
go  on,  the  King  of  Portugal  cried  out  and  blustered,  and  there 
was  even  talk  of  war.*  Arms  were  not  taken  up,  but  Portuo;uese 
diplomacy  recommenced  an  active  campaign  against  the 
Spanish  possession  of  the  Moluccas,  until  at  last  it  succeeded, 
and  by  the  treaty  of  1529  brought  those  islands  under  the  do- 
minion of  its  own  crown. f 

If,  then,  Portugal  continued  so  urgently  her  complaints 
and  negotiations,  and  never  ceased  till  she  had  gained  her 
point,  can  we  suppose  that  during  the  preparation  of  Cahot's 
expedition  slie  only  gave  vent  to  complaints,  and  not  rather 
used  every  means,  tried  every  way,  made  every  attempt  to 

*Petcr  M;irtyr  d'  Ancliiera,  Dec.  vi,  cap.  x. 

f'El  Key  de  P()rtn!;al....no  Icnicndn  por  definido  elnegocio  dela  p;iili(iiin.. 
.siempre  so  gnexavii  y  (iezia,  qm;  era  .'icraviado....pero  viendo  qne  el  Enipi 
rador  continiiava  en  armnr,  estnndo  miiy  flrme  quo  aqnellas  islas  cainn  en  s-ii 
deinarcacinn,  y  que  las  queria  ar'izar  liolvio  allevar  el  neerocio  por  otro  camiii'i, 
aprovechnmloso  de  In  necessidiid  en  qne  vio  qne  esfava  ol  Emperndnr  de  dineros 
.  .en  Zaragnga  a  veynte  y  dos  de  Abril  deste  nno  (1529)los  mesmos  Comissarios 
celebraron  carta  de  venta.  .  .  .  con  pncto  de  retrovendendo  perpetuo,  pnr 
prccio  de  trezientos  y  cincuenta  mil  ducados...."  Herrera,  Dec.  iv,  lib.  v,  cap. 
10— Navarrete,  iv,  Doc.  xli,  p.  389 


««■ 


^^mmm 


TIIK  KXI'KIHTION    <>l"    152(1 


IGl 


lender  it  abortive  ?  For  wo  must  consider  that  if  Cabot's  oii- 
tirpriso  siu'cecded,  and  Spain  learned  the  advanta^'o  of  im)s- 
scssin^'  the  M  'luccas,  Portugal  could  never  hope  to  rid  her- 
self of  this  dangerous  neighbor  in  the  seas  of  India.  On  tho 
(itlier  hand,  she  could  always  hope  for  a  good  result  if  siio 
(oulcl  (haw  matters  out  to  a  great  length,  and  weary  Spain 
and  tilt;  Hniperor  with  oxj)ense  and  [)rocrastination.  It  is  there- 
f(»ro  morally  certain  that  Portugal,  unequal  to  open  warfare, 
ion^hi  underhand  in  every  possible  way  tho  expedition  of 
Cabot,  and  the  most  obvious  and  natural  means  was  to  blow 
ou  tho  morclumts'  anger,  increase  the  distrust  and  disesteem 
among  the  otHccrs,  sow  in  all  the  seeds  of  envy  and  dislike, 
and  so  secure  the  failure  of  the  expedition. 


-■■:V 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

Sailing  of  the  expedition. 

At  last,  all  difficulties  vanquished,  the  fleet  left  San  Lucar 
do  Biirrameda  on  the  3rd  of  April,  152G,  and  put  to  sea.* 

The  season,  it  is  true,  was  not  far  enough  advanced  to  be 
favorable  for  the  voyage  they  were  to  make  ;  but  one  of  tho 
seamen  left  in  the  Moluccas  by  Magellan's  expedition  hav- 
'"R  by  great  good  fortune  succeeded  in  gaining  tho  shores  of 
Europe,  returned  to  Spain  with  the  news  of  the  cruelties 
practised  by  the  Portuguese  on  the  wretched  survivors  of 
that  expedition  and  of  their  capture  of  the  Trinidad.  This 
news  caused  the  order  to  sail  to  be  given  at  once,  in  order  to 


*  "Despues   de  muchas  diflciiltudes,  partio  SebasUan  Gaboto  a  lo3  primeros 
ill' Aljiil,  deeste  afio,  1526."  Herrcra,  Dec.  iii,  lib.  ix,  cap.  3. 

The  exiiut  date  of  sailing  is  given  In  the  narrative  of  Lewis  Ramirez — 
"Salieiou  de  la  bahia  deSan  Lucar  a  3  dc  Abril."  See  App.  xxxvii. 

-  11 


162 


THE  LIFE  OF  SEBASTIAN  CABOT. 


carry  provisions  and  reenforcements  to  those  remaining  on 
the  islands.* 

Sebastian  Cahot  commanded  the  flagship,  with  Francis  de 
Concha  in  charge  of  accounts  and  Fernando  Caldcron  as 
Treasurer.  The  Santa  Maria  del  Espinar  was  coinniaiukd 
by  Gregory  Caro,  who  had  with  him  Michael  Baldes  as  clmf 
of  accounts  and  John  de  Junco  as  Treasurer.  Thetliirdsliip 
was  called  the  Trinity,  and  commanded  by  Francis  de  Rqjiis 
with  Anthony  Montoya  chief  of  accounts  and  Gonzalo  Nunez 
de  Balboa  for  Treasurer.  Michael  de  Ruiis  commanded  his 
own  caravel.  Caspar  de  Ribas  was  chief  constable  of  Iho  fleet. 
Many  noble  youths  and  persons  of  qunlity  took  part  in  the 
expedition  as  volunteers.  Amongst  these  Herrera  places 
Michael  de  Rodas,  wl;ose  name  in  the  course  of  our  story 
will  acquire  a  sad  importance,  and  of  whom  the  Spanish  his- 
torian says  that  he  vva;^'  very  experienced  in  matters  pertain- 
ing to  the  sea,  and  a  man  of  worth,  and  that  he  wont  on 
board  by  the  King's  order  but  without  any  ofiice.f  But  m 
the  suit,  between  Sebastian  Cabot  and  Catharine  Vasquoz  lie 
is  re})catealy  mentioned,  and  generally  as  pilot  of  the  ilafi;- 
shil),  from  which  we  must  presume  that  Herrera  was  mistaken, 
or  else  that  he  assumed  the  duties  of  pilot  during  the  voy- 
age.:{:  In  another  place  further  on  Herrera  calls  him  a  brother 
of  Francis  de  Rqjas  captain  of  the  Trinidad  ;  and  as  the  two 
surnames  are  always  distinct  and  different  not  only  in  her- 
rera, but  throughout  the  suit  that  was  afterwards  brought 
against  Sebastian  Cabot  by  the  mother  of  Martin  Mendez,  we 
must  corcludo  that  if  they  were  brothers  they  were  only  soon 


*"y  porque  en  esta  ocasion  Ucgo  lui  marineio,  de  los  que  avian  estado  en  los 
Moluchos,  y  lifcrio  el  maltiatamicnlo  que  avian  Uecho  los  Portugueses  a  los 
Castellano^,  y  los  pocos  que  avian  quedado,  y  como  avian  tornado  la  rave 
Trinidad,  se  soiicito  <;ou  niiis  cuydiido  la  pa'lida  de  Sebastian  Gaboto,  porque 
los  f uesse  a  scccorrer — "Herrera,  I.  r.. 

f'Fueror  'ambien  en  elJa  nmchos  bijos  Da-go,  y  personas  principales  volun- 
turiameute  .  .  .  .  y  Miguel  de  Hodiis,  que  auuque  niuy  plati^,o  a  las  oosas  de  la 
mar,  y  hombre  dc  valor  ;  no  llcvava  oflcio,  porque  yva  por  orden  del  Key  ..." 
Herrer.i,  ib. 

j.  '  Yten  si  saben  quel  dicho  Sebastian  caboto  enbio  a  migue!  de  Rodas  piloto 
/)e  l.i  uao  capitana.  ..."  Preyunta  vi  ;  and  tviice  again  in  tUc  vii  audviii 


1 


GOMARA  AND  HERRERA. 


168 


the  mother's  side,  not  on  the  father's.*  The  whole  number 
of  persons  was  two  hundred,  f 

On  sailing  each  commandoi-  of  a  ship  received  a  sealed 
ijfuket  containing  orders  for  succeeding  to  the  command 
iif  tiie  fleet  in  case  of  Cabot's  death.  When  they  were  to  be 
imenod  we  know  not,  but  from  the  nature  of  the  orders  we 
should  sui-pose  as  aoon  as  they  were  at  sea. 

Francis  de  Rojas  was  named  first,  then  came  Michael 
ik'  Ro(uis,  and  Michael  Mendez  third,-):  then  followed  other 
names.  "It  is  difficult,"  Biddle  justly  remarks,  "to  imagine 
;i  scheme  better  fitted  to  nurse  disaflection."§  Cabot's  death  or 
his  retirement  for  whatevcv  cause,  fi-om  command  of  the  fleet, 
must  ever  stand  as  an  atti  ctive  prospect  before  the  fancy  of 
ihe  piivileged  persons  whose  names  were  inscribed  on  tliat 
list.  There  were  three  government  ships,  and  it  is  natural  that 
incase  of  the  death  or  disability  of  the  commander  of  the  flag- 
ship one  of  the  other  two  captains  should  succeed  to  the  cora- 
iiiaiul  of  the  fleet.  Indeed  the  secret  orders  assign  the  com- 
mander of  the  Trinidad,  Francis  de  Rojas,  to  the  succes- 
sion. But  if  he  failed,  it  was  not  the  comnumder  of  the  Santa 
Maria  who  was  to  take  the  place  ;  he  came  eleventh  on  the  list, 
afier  tl:e  chief  constable,  after  all  the  treasurers,  the  chiefs  of 
accounts  of  the  ships,  even  those  of  his  own  ship,  Santa 
Maria  del  Espinar,  who  passed  over  the  Captain's  head.  Was 
it  accident,  mistake,  or  was  it  intended  ?  Let  us  liasten  to  say 
that  Captain  Gregory  Caro  put  at  the  bottom  of  the  list,  at 
the  tall  of  his  own  -ubalterns,  steadfastly  maintained  his 
lovalty  to  Sebastian  Cabot  ;  how  he  was  treated  by  tiie  privi- 
k'frotl  officers  who  were  to  succeed  first  to  his  office,  we  shall 
soon  see. 

And  now  before  commencing  the  sad  story  of  the  events 


One  witness  to  the  vi  Fregunta  of  tbe  ProbanQa  of  Vasqiicy;  «'nyo  decir  .  . 
que  ffiiiruil  de  Rodas   piloto  mayor   de  la  diclm  armada  ....  etc " 

* "Lds  Jos  hertr,auo8 Roxas y  Martin  Meudez."  Heriera,  Dec.  18,  lib.  ix,  cap.  3. 

tThis  ii\imber  Is  given  in  a  letter  of  Dr.  Affonao  Simiio,  the  King  of  Port- 
ugal's agent  in  Spain.     We  shall  give  the  letter  in  full  further  ou. 

\  Herrera,  ih. 

§  Biddle,  bk.  i,  ch.  xviil,  p.  133.  -.J.  •  - 


164 


THE  LlFIS  OF  SEBASTIAN  «AROT. 


^  ■■(>< 
ill 


M 


wliioli  follow,  I  must  inform  tlic  reader  beforehand,  that  weave 
in  a  most  unfavorable  position  for  uilderstandin-gand  jii(ljri„jr 
Sebastian  Cabot's  conduc^t.*  His  friend  Peter  Martyr  I)^ 
Anghiera  was  dead  ;  and  the  only  two  historians  left  ^vho 
speak  of  Cabot,  are  Gomara  and  llorrera.  Gomara  pulli'^lioii 
his  work  in  1552  at  a  time  when  as  Ave  shall  see  furlhor  oii,;ill 
Si)ain  was  loading  Cabot's  name  with  reproaches  and  male- 
dictions  ;  and  he  dedicated  his  history  to  Charles  V  wliojust 
at  that  time  was  at  the  height  of  his  anger  at  Cabot,  llerreva 
lived  later,  but  was  still  too  close  to  that  period  to  bo  able  to 
strip  himself  wholly  of  that  animosity  not  altogethoj'  blairuibie, 
wliich  his  compatriots  had  towards  Cabot,  and  the  int'oi'inatioii 
he  furnishes  us  is  taken  in  great  part  from  the  w]'itin,;,'s  and 
memoirs  of  Sebastian's  enemies.  Add  to  all  this  that  it  is 
veiy  little  they  tell  us  about  him,  and  that  little  is  gonorallv 
so  vague  that  it  is  difficult  to  gather  its  precise  m(?aMingan(l 
bearing.  Take  for  example  the  way  in  which  Herrera  relates 
the  events  of  the  expedition  from  the  day  when  it  sailed  from 
tlie  shores  of  Spain  till  its  arrival  at  the  isle  of  Patos  on  the 
coasts  of  Brazil :  "Std)astian  Cabot  was  sailing  to  the  Canaries, 
and  the  Cape  Verde  Islands,  and  then  to  Capo  St.  Au<i;iii«tiue 
and  the  island  of  Patos,  and  near  the  Bay  of  All  Haip.ts 
he  ran  against  a  French  ship  and  according  to  the  opinion  (if 
the  most  practised  seamen  he  did  not  conduct  liiinself  iiii 
tliat  vT)yage  as  a  sailor  of  experience,  nor  even  as  a  j^^uod 
captain,  for  he  ran  short  of  provisions  from  badly  distrihutiii;' 
them  ;  and  as  some  minds  remained  dissatisfied  aliout  the 
Sovillo  quarrels,  and  he  took  small  pains  to  i)a('ify  tlioiu. 
there  arose  iiiurmurs,  and  insolences  in  the  licet  on  accouiii  of 
the  navigation  and  command  ;  and  so  ho  arrived  at  the  island 
of  Patos  greatly  pinched  with  hunger."f 


*  "  wliila  ther?;  exist  so  many  causes  for  miRuridcrstnndinc  Cabni'scomiiici, 
and  inntiv(!.s  for  misrt^presentinir  it,  flie  writer,  imfortunately.  whose  slate- 
mcnts  Iir»ve  since  been  adnpfed.  almost  willioiit  question,  prepared  iiis  iiisiory 
niiiier  cii'cum.stance8  little  inclining  him  to  impartiality."  BiiMle,  Memmr. 

I  "  file  navecrando  a  las  v^anarias  y  «  ins  l«l"8  '^c  Cx\hc,  Verde  :  y  <i'  spues  al 
Oabo  de  San  Agtistin,  y  a  la  isla  de  Patos  :  y  cerca  de  la  Baliia  de  Tndos 
Hantos,  .se  top<i  con  nna  nave  francesa,  y  sepun  bi  opinion  de  los  mas  plutic"' 
liombres  de  mar,  non  gc  ^uverno  en  esta  navegacioH,  como  laarinero  de  espe- 


OTHKR  DOCUMENTS. 


105 


BiddlecalUs  attention  to  the  vagueness  of  tliis  account  Avliivh 
he  observes  is  characteristic  of  falsehood.  *  It  is  indeed 
strange  that  an  historian  over-abounding  in  details  like  Iler- 
rera.  should  be  so  sparing  in  his  account  of  a  matter  of  so 
much  importance,  and  c5ndense  in  n  single  period  so  luany 
(iilfcrent  matters,  leaving  the  reader  wholly  at  a  loss  to  find 
,'inv  tiling  out,  or  son  clearly  what  occurred.  Here  we  com- 
plain of  his  vagueness  ;  wo  sliall  have  more  than  one  ot-casion 
to  find  fault  with  iiis  open  partiality  in  narrating  and  in  judg- 
ing fiic-ts,  not  to  say  his  falsehood  and  injustice. 

This  injury  can  bo  partially  repaired  by  the  testimcwiy  of 
contemporary  documents  which  we  have  succeeded  in  ol)tain- 
ing.  But  these  are  unfortunately  of  little  use,  and  although 
enough  to  put  in  a  good  view  the  figure  of  Cabot,  which 
confined  to  the  shade  left  us  full  of  doubt  and  suspicion,  they 
;n'onotsuilicient  for  a  full  and  calm  judgment  either  of  events 
or  of  the  persons  who  took  part  in  them. 

Tjiese  documents  are  1.  The  heads  of  accusations  presented 
ag;iinst  Cabot  by  Catharine  \''asfiuez,  mother  of  Lieuteruint 
Martin  Mendez,  then  deceased  ;  2.  Those  presented  by  Fr;incis 
!c  Roja^  captain  of  the  ship  Trinidad  ;  3.  Sebastian  Cabot's 
;  m\\\n'  or  defense  ;  4.  The  Depositions  of  the  witnesses  sum- 
uioned  by  boti)  sides  on  the  trial  ;  5.  The  letter  i?ent  fron-  La 
I'lata  during  the  same  voyage  by  Lewis  Ramirez  who^took 
part  in  it  ;  G.  The  Recjuisition  or  DeiQand  that  Sebastian  C'a- 
!iot  caused  to  be  made  on  Francis  de  Rojas  through  the  me- 
iliuin  of  Diego  Garcia  ;  7.  The  narrative  of  his  voyage  made  by 
Diego  (nu'cia  who  met  Sebastian  Cabot  on  the  Plata  :  To 
these  we  shall  add  a  letter  of  Dr.  Aflbnso  Simao  to  the  King 
of  Portugal,  and  another  letter  from  Cabot  himself  to  John  <le 
Saniano  secretary  of  the  Emperor  Charles  V.  f 


niiuiii,  ni  aun  comobiien  CiipiUn;  pnrqiio  le  fultola  vitnnllii,  porser  nnO  repar- 
tid;i:  ypomo  pnr  las  difeienciiis  d«  Sevilla,  ivan  algunos  animos  mul  satis- 
iVcliDs,  y  el  tuvo  pdco  cuydutlo  en  sosscirarlos,  iiacieron  miirmuriuuoiies  y 
"troviniiontoson  el  armiula,  por  causa  dc  la  iiavf-irncion,  y  dol  aoviiMiio  ;  y  assi, 
llciroali  isla  dePatog,  con  mucha  liambic"  llenera.  Dec.  iii,  lib.  i-^,'  cap.  .'). 

* "  Tlic  whole  passatre  has  that  air  of  va;^iieness  so  characteristic  of  false- 
linnd."     Riddle,  i,  xix.  p.  137,  note. 

i  Dr.  Himao's  letter  was  published  l)y  Varuhagen  in  t^e  UistvHa  Gcral  do 


sp 


166 


THE  LIFE  OF  SEBASTIAN  CABOT. 


The  fleet  was  Imrdly  at  sea  before  Cabot  set  Lieutenant 
Martin  Mendez  altogether  aside,  and  in  every  thing  bolonfrinir 
to  his  office  made  use  of  the  services  of  Michael  Rifosor,  iflu 
was  unavailable,  of  Fernando  Calderon.  This  is  tlic  niiuh 
charge  brought  against  Cabot  by  Mendez's  mother,  and  nil  tin 
witnesses  confirm  it,  nor  does  he  in  any  way  contradict  it  in 
his  answer.*  We  must  therefore  hold  it  for  true,  and  blann' 
Cabot  for  having  looked  out  very  badly  for  his  own  future  and 
for  that  of  the  expedition.  That  he  believed  he  could  put  no 
trust  in  Mendez's  loyalty  is  easily  comprehended;  but  without 
putting  him  altogether  aside,  he  might  have  reserved  the  inon 
delicate  matters  for  Rifos,  and  employed  his  lieutenant  in  tlic 
others.  Humiliating  and  degrading  him  only  added  fresh  t'ud 
to  enmities  already  fierce  and  pc  vcrfnl,  and  gave  a  hold  tolii> 
enemies  for  increasing  the  murmi.rs  and  hostility.  He  ought 
not  to  have  forgotten  that  there  was  a  strong  party  in  the  fleet 
leagued  vvitb  Mendez,  and  the  mortal  offense  he  gave  hi- 
lieutenant  would  produce  a  counterblow  in  the  mind  of  all 
those  that  sided  with  him.  In  this  way  the  expedition,  already 
menaced  in  its  juncture,  received  a  new  shock  .sufficient  to  diir- 
solve  it  altogether.  Had  Cabot  acted  otherwise,  either  iNIendo/ 
would  have  laid  aside  some  of  his  ill-will  and  calmed  down, 
which  would  have  been  a  great  gain  for  the  success  of  tht 
expedition;  or  else  he  would  have  continued  implacable  in  iii> 
hostility  to  his  Captain,  and  then  the  latter  would  not  havi 
wanted  opportunities  to  take  him  at  fault,  and  then  strike  hi> 


Brazil,  Madrid,  1854,  p.  486— See  App.  xli.— The  leUer  of  Ramirez  was'pub- 
lisiied  by  the  same  Varnhagen  iu  the  Revista  Trimensal,  Rio  Jaiieiro,  1852 
T.  XV. 

Unfortunat?ly  I  iiave  not  been  able  to  procure  this  Review,  and  for  tlie  let- 
ter of  Ramirez  I  liave  been  obliired  to  content  myself  witli  a  summary  wliicii 
was  courteously  sent  me  from  Spain.  Lucicily  the  summary  is  tolerably  full 
and  embraces  all  the  material  part  of  the  narrative.  See  App.  xxxvii. 

The  excessive  lenetu  of  the  papers  in  suit  has  rendered  it  impossiii.^forme 
to  give  them  all  in  the  appendix:  I  sliall  however  givo  !is  exact  and  faitlifiil  a 
summary  of  them  as  it  is  possible  foi'  me  to  do.  The  same  reason  of  their  lenetli 
though  in  a  less  degrechas  dissuaded  me  from  reproducing  in  full  tin;  Interrnpa 
tories  of  Captain  de  Roju.s,  the  demand  made  on  him  by  Diego  Garcia.aml  tlu 
narrative  or  7Je/vv><fir«V>  [Itinerary^  of  the  same  Garcia.  I  shall  give  the tntire 
summary  of  Ramirez's  letter  just  as  it  was  sent  me  from  Spain. 

*  See,  App.  xxxiv. 


CABOT  S  WANT  OF  POLICY. 


367 


blow,  and  remove  him  by  an  exercise  of  justice  apparent  to 
Jill.  By  this  means  tlie  rigor  of  liis  justice  would  have  im- 
proved the  discipline  of  the  crew  and  increased  their  esteem. 
Instead  of  that,  ho  lowered  liimself  in  the  opinion  ol  every 
one,  and  ga.ve  his  enemies  tlie  appearance  of  being  in  the 
right,  and  by  furnishing  them  an  opportunity  for  spread- 
ing the  discontent  in  the  ships,  made  H  easy  for  them  to  win 
proselytes  to  their  side.  Ho  did  not  even  gain  any  thing 
in  the  security  of  his  command  by  displacing  Men<lez 
(50  long  as  the  other  officers,  tainted  with  the  same  pitcli  as 
Mcndez,  retained  tlieir  respective  commands,  especially  Rojas 
who  was  the  lirst  of  all  the  officers  after  Cabot. 

The  ships  stopped  at  the  island  of  Palma  in  the  Canaries 
to  take  in  the  necessary  supplies  for  continuing  the  voyage  ;* 
and  here  further  symptoms  and  causes  of  the  latent  dissolution 
of  the  expedition  were  immediately  manifested. 

Cabot  in  his  answer  to  the  charges  in  the  suit  under  the 
fourth  head,  says  that  on  tliis  island,  those  who  had  met  in  con- 
spiracy in  St.  Paul's  of  Seville,  met  again  for  the  same  purpose 
in  the  house  of  Alonzo  de  Santa  Cruz  who  was  one  of  the  In- 
ppectors  for  the  mercliants'  company.  Of  the  witnesses  pro- 
duced, one  testifies  that  Santa  Cruz  was  lame  in  one  leg,  and  he 
often  saw  the  persons  mentioned  by  Cabot  go  in  and  out  of  his 
house,  but  cannot  say  whether  those  \  isits  were  on  account  of 
his  sickness  or  not.  It  is  very  possible  that  they  were  visits  of 
iViendsliip  on  account  of  his  illness,  and  yet  their  talk  turn- 
ing, as  was  natural,  on  their  relations  with  Cabot,  whom  they 
liated.  may  not  have  had  for  its  direct  and  sole  purpose  tlie 
renewal  of  the  bonds  and  oaths  of  their  union.  But  even 
if  they  were  not  real  meetings  for  conspiracy,  they  were  be- 
hoved so  by  all  the  men  in  the  expedition.  On  this  point  the 
witnesses  called  by  Cabot  all  agree  :  they  do  not  know  wliether 
tiiose  meetings  were  directed  against  Cabot  or  not,  but  they 
were  publicly  looked  upon  among  the  crews  as  conspiracies 
against  the  commander  of  the  expedition,  and  publicly  spoken 
of  as  such.+ 


1.. 


*Narrative  of  Lewis  Ramirez,  App.  x.vxvii. 

}  The  witnesses'  words  arc  all  in  this  toae  :  "IX  testigc— Dixo  que  no  sabo 


1G8 


THE  LIFE  OF  SEBASTIAN  CABOT. 


k 


Whether  it  was  the  resul  of  what  was  agreed  on  at  tliese 
meetings  or  a  thought  origin,  i;  in  Martin  Mcndcz's  mind, 
the  latter  prepared  a  writing  to  send  to  the  Emperor  notifying; 
him  of  the  manner  in  wliich  Sebastian  Cabot  was  conducting,' 
tfie  expedition.  But  Cabot  was  on  the  watch  for  what  liis  ene- 
mies did  and  said,  and  by  means  of  the  trusty  Rifos  sequestered 
the  letters  of  Mendez  and  all  others  that  wrote  to  Spain,  in  or- 
derto  assure  himself  of  their  contents.*  According  to  tlie  eliargc 
of  Rojas,  he  did  the  same  thing  at  several  other  times  on  the 
voyage,f  and  with  our  present  customs  and  way  of  tliinking. 
this  would  be  a  very  serious  matter,  and  severely  to  be  con- 
demned ;  but  it  was  differently  looked  on  in  the  days  of  Se- 
bastian Cabot,  and  to  appreciate  it  at  its  true  value  we  must 
put  it  in  connection  with  the  idea  of  his  time. 

So  far  as  appears,  among  the  ill-advised  sealed  instructions 
which  the  government  gave  Cabot,  there  was  one  re(juiiiiig 
him  to  inform  the  Captains  at  the  island  of  Pal  ma  of  the 
course  he  intenop^  to  take  on  the  voyage.  Upon  this  injunc- 
tion, as  Cabot  said  nothing,  Rojas  accompanied  by  the  others 
aj^peared  before  him  and  demanded  in  right  of  the  ro^'al  orders 
to  know  what  course  he  intended  to  follow.  Cabot  tried  to 
evade  giving  a  direct  answer,  saying  that  he  had  had  an 
understanding  with  the  sovereign  as  to  what  he  was  to  do  :  hut 
Rojas,  who  was  not  a  man  to  be  imposed  on  by  such  answers, 
insisted  on  his  right ;  yet  Cabot  held  firm  and  would  tell 
nothing.:]:    The  witness  who  confirms  this  charge  of  Rojas 


otracosa  desta  prcgunta  mas  de  qnanto  dixo  que  oyo  decir  en  la  diclni  yshde 

lapalma  y  en  la  dicba  armada  que  loscapitanesy  oficiales seaviai;  juiitiuln 

en  oasa  del  dicho  santa  cnix  veedor  por  los  dichos  armadores  e  que  lo  oyo  decir 
a  muclias  personas  de  la  dicha  armada  publicamente." 

*Prol)an<;a  de  Catalina  Vasquez,  Pn-guutaxix.— Rojas,  Interrogatory  No.  vi. 

t  Rojas,  lb.  ib. 

j  "  ....  el  dicho  Capitan  francisco  de  Rojas  Juntamente  c^n  los  otros 
capitancs  de  la  dicha  armada,  visto  como  el  dicho  Sebastian  gabolo  no  qiicsiii 
dar  ni  dava  la  dicha  derrota  como  por  su  magestad  le  hera  mandado  le  pidlLion 
que  se  las  diese . .  .  y  respondio  que  su  magestad  y  el  se  entendian  iimy  bic'i 

"    In  continuation  Rojas  puts  in  Cabot's  mouth  an  insolence  towards  the 

Emperor,  but  the  thing  is  too  unlikely  in  the  person  who  would  have  .said  it, 
and  in  the  rirounistancea  in  which  it  would  have  been  said.  —Interrogatory . . 
.  .  by  Captain  Fraucib  Ue  liujus,  No.  v. 


HE  SAILS  TO  BRAZIL. 


1G9 


adds  that  Cabot,  to  quiet  the  Captains'  inquiries  gave  them 
tlie  course  as  for  as  the  Capo  Verde  Ishinds,  but  as  his  dep- 
osition is  somewhat  confused  and  not  very  reliable,  I  adhere 
to  tlie  sin<,de  account  of  llQJas. 

From  the  Canaries  the  ileet  sailed  to  the  Cape  Verde  Islands, 
and  from  there  to  Cape  St.  Au^nistine  in  the  rrovinco  of 
iVrnambuco  in  Brazil.  Kojas  at  this  place  accuses  Cabot  of 
liaving  changed  a  quarter  in  the  direction  of  their  vo^^agc  on 
leaving  the  Cape  Verde  Islands,  wliich,  he  says  was  the  cause 
of  their  touching  at  Cape  St.  Augustine.*  I  confess  I  do  not 
see  the  force  of  this  charge,  for  I  find  others  keeping  the 
same  course  that  (ytibot  took  then,  they  sailed  from  Spain  to 
the  Canaries  just  as  he  did,  from  the  Canaries  to  the  Capo 
Verde  Islands,  and  from  these  to  Cupe  St.  Augustine  in  the 
Province  of  Pernambuco.f  Diego  Garcia,  who  led  another 
Spanish  expedition  to  the  regions  of  La  Plata,  and  of  whom 
we  shall  have  more  to  say  anon,  did  the  same  tiling  that 
same  year.;}:  This  Garcia,  so  far  from  being  friendly  to 
Cahot,  was  rather  his  slanderer,  and  twice  accuses  him  of  in- 
capacity in  navigation  on  this  same  voyage  from  the  Cape 
Verde  Islands  to  Cape  St.  Augustine.  The  first  time  he 
accuses  him  of  not  knowing  how  to  choose  the  proper  sea- 
son for  the  voyage,  "because,"  ho  says,  "every  navigator 
and  pilot  who  wants  to  sail  to  these  parts  must  know  enough 
to  sail  at  the  time  when  the  sun  makes  summer  there  .... 
and  Sebastian  Cabot  with  all  his  astrology  did  not  know  enough 


*  Interragatory,  No.  VTt,  "Item  si  saben  que  por  su  mal  navegacion  y  c^ovierno 
eii  el  i)araj(!  de  liis  yslas  de  cabo  verde  mudo  una  quarta  de  iiucstro  via^e  por 
la  (iui.l  iliclia  quarta  asi  tomada  fuymos  a  diir  en  el  cabo  de  sant  agustio  c 
pidvincia  de  pernambucr." 

1 1  It  seems  to  me  tbat  Uojas  is  complaining  that  Cabot  went  to  St.  Ausrustine 
at  all ;  imd  not  tliat  it  was  bad  navigation  to  sail  thither  by  way  of  the  Camiry 
and  Cape  Verde  Islands.  Cabot's  destination  was  the  islands  in  the  Moluroa 
Passage,  and  his  course  lay  around  Cape  Horn  or  tlirough  Magellan's  Strait, 
li'it  by  shaping  his  course  too  far  to  the  west  be  came  to  Cape  St.  Au- 
L'ustine  instead  of  keeping  to  the  east  of  it  on  his  way  south.  I  presume 
Cahot  must  have  altered  his  course  for  the  purpose  of  taking  in  supplies  in 
Iliazil. -Translator.] 

I  "Desda  ysla  de  buena  vista  berimos  vela  en  la  bnelta  y  demanda  del  cabo 
de  San  Agostia    . .  ."  Relaciony  derroterode  Diego  Garcia.  Vid.  App.  xxxviii. 


170 


THE  LIFE  OF  SEBASTIAN  CABOT. 


for  that."*  In  making  this  accusation,  the  vain  and  conceited 
Garcia,  as  ho  will  ho  proved  further  on,  did  not  say  or 
did  not  know  that  Sol)astian  (y'ahot's  departure  from  Spain  was 
hastened  hy  the  had  ne\vr>  received  from  the  Moluccas.  In 
fact,  Peter  Martyr  tells  us  that  the  sailing  of  the  expedition 
was  fixed  for  August  1525,  precisely  for  the  purpose  oftakinj,' 
advantage  of  the  favorahle  sea.son  for  that  voj'age,f  and  after 
the  sailing  had  to  be  suspended  for  that  year  on  account  of 
the  disagreement  with  the  merchants,  there  is  no  doubt  but 
what  the  following  year  also  they  would  have  waited  for  the 
same  season,  for  without  Diego  Garcia's  teaching,  it  was  well 
known  in  Spain  what  was  the  proper  season  for  sailing  to  the 
southern  parts  of  the  New  World. :j: 

Soon  after  this  the  presumptuous  Garcia  turns  again  to  bite 
Cabot,  but  the  meaning  of  that  bite  is  an  insoluble  enigma. 
Speaking  of  the  crossing  from  the  Cape  Verde  Islands  to  Cape 
St.  Augustine,  he  notes  the  difficulty  of  sailing  in  the  currents 
that  flow  from  the  Gulf  of  Guinea,  and  adds :  "  Sebastian  Cabot 
did  not  know  how  to  take  these  currents,  for  he  was  not  a 
sailor,  and  did  not  know  how  to  navigate. "§  Having  said 
this,  without  adding  any  motive  or  reason  in  support  of  his 
charge,  he  resumes  the  thread  of  his  narrative  and  goes  on  to 
describe  his  voyage. 


»  '« por  qua]  qtiier  navesante  e  piloto  que  ha  de  navegar  en  nquelliis 

partes  a  de  conoscer  de  navegar  en  el  tiempo  que  el  sol  haga  veiano  en 
aquella  parte  .  .  .  .  y  esia  navegacion  non  supo  tomar  sebaslian  gaboto  con 
toda  su  astrolugia.  ..."  ib.  [Verano,  summer  in  modern  Spanish  ;  but  spring. 
in  old  Spanish.    Translator.] 

t  "Eat  Cabotus  Augusto  mense  proximi  anni  MDXXV  discessurus."  Dec, 
vii,  cap.  6. 

X  Peter  Martyr  after  saying  that  Sebastian  Cabot  was  to  sail  in  the  month 
of  August,  thus  continres  :  "nee  citius  qiiidem,  quia  nee  prius  queuut  ad  rem 
tantam  necessaria  parari,  neeper  celorum  eursus  debet  prius  illud  iter  inchoan ; 
oportet  quippe  tunc  versus  equinoctium  vela  dirigere,  quando  sol  ostatem 
nobis  et  dierum  Inngitndinem  ablaturus,  ad  antictones  penetraye  incipml. 
....  Quo  tempore  brevissimi  sunt  apud  populos  arctoas  dies,  longissimos  Ca- 
botus assequetur."  App.  xxxiii. 

§  "  .  .  .  este  camino  se  ha  de  navegar  con  grande  resguardo  y  saber  de  niar- 
ineria  porque  ay  grandes  corrientes  que  salen  delos  rrios  de  guinea  que  abattn 
los  navios  ....  estas  corrientes  no  supo  tomar  Sebastian  Gaboto  porque  no  era 
marinero  ny  sabia  navegar." 


THE  STAY   AT  PERNAMBTTCO. 


171 


I  have  calready  said  in  another  place,  but  it  seems  well  to 
reiwat  it  here,  that  I  stop  to  gather  all  such  trifling  details, 
because  in  the  scarcity  of  more  serious  documents  I  think  it 
necessary  to  treasure  up  every  thing  that  shows  the  circum- 
stances Cabot  was  in,  and  how  he  was  surrounded  by  enmity 
and  aversion. 

Thoy  reached  Pcrnambuco  in  the  month  of  June,  and  stayed 
there  tor  fresh  supplies.*  Thence  the  ships  resumed  their 
voya^'e,  but  contrary  winds  drove  them  back  to  the  harbor, 
and  for  three  or  four  times  that  they  renewed  the  attempt, 
they  were  compelled  to  yield  every  time  to  the  fury  of  the  sea 
and  seek  shelter  from  the  land.f  This  forced  stay  lasted 
more  than  diree  months. :j: 

At  Pernambuco  there  was  a  Portuguese  factory,  and  Rojas 
under  the  VII  and  VIII  heads  of  his  Interrogatories  makes 
this  further  accusation  against  Cabot,  that  these  Portuguese,  to 
divert  the  Spanish  expedition  from  saiMng  to  the  Moluccas, 
got  around  him  telling  him  marvels  about  the  riches  of  La 
Plata,  and  that  he  hankering  after  that  gold  suddenly  resolved 
to  give  up  the  voyage  to  the  Moluccas  and  stop  on  that  river  ; 
and  for  this  purpose  he  began  to  scheme  with  some  persons  in 
the  expedition  in  order  to  draw  them  into  his  plan.  He  goes 
on  to  say  that  he  opposed  the  change  with  all  his  might,  in 
order  to  keep  his  oath,  and  because  he  saw  the  aim  of  the 
Portuguese,  and  on  this  account  Cabot,  not  being  able  to  over- 
come his  opposition,  had  him  arrested.  § 

Rojas  was  blinded  by  his  hate  for  Cabot  (the  motives  and 

*  Lewis  Ramirez,  App.  xxxvii. 

t  Proofs  of  Sebastiun  Cabot,  Interioffatory  xiii.  The  witnesses  are  unanimous 
in  confiimiDg  this.  I  cite  as  samples  a  few  words  of  the  first  witness  and  of  the 
eighth.  The  first  says  :  "Sabe  qiies  verdad  lo  contenido  en  la  dicba  pregunta  e 
losabeporque  vio  ha^er  a  la  vela  tres  o  qnatro  vezes  a  la  dicba  armada  para 
llevar  el  dicho  viaje  de  tarsys  e  ofir  e  poique  vio  ansymismo  quel  tiempo  les 
hera  contrario  e  que  por  esto  surgio  en  la  costa  del  brasyl  en  bernanbuco"  .  .  . 
and  the  eighth  .  .  .  .  "  cl dicho  capitan  caboto  mando  que  las  naos  fuesen  au 

viaje.  .  .  .  e  fue  for^ado  ....  suigir  en  la  dicba   costa adonde  esto- 

vieion  con  viento  contrario  tie  mesns  y  medio  poco  mns  o  menos." 

tlb.  Interrogatory  xiv.  The  ten  witnesses  called  all  UDanimously  confirm 
the  Interrogatory  in  their  deposition. 

S  See  App.  XXXV. 


:i 


4- 


11 


172 


THE  LIFE  OP  REHAS'SIAN  CAHOT. 


proofs  of  wliicli  wo  shall  soon  sco),  and  in  the  blindness 
of  this  hato,  ho  did  not  see  that  ho  was  asserting  some- 
thing wholly  incredihlo.  For  who  could  ])oliove  that  u  iniin 
who  from  tlio  lovo  of  discovery,  postponing  all  thought  of 
gain,  would  have  had  the  nature  and  aim  of  the  exp(!(liti()ii 
changed,  and  from  commercial  which  it  wan,  had  altered  its 
puri)OHe  and  ol)joct  to  exploration  and  discovery,  and  Iherehy 
drawn  on  him-olfthe  unrelenting  war  of  those  who  tilted  the 
expedition  out  : — who  could  believe  that  such  a  man,  not  at 
the  first  sight  of  gold  but  at  the  mere  promise  of  it,  would 
suffer  himself  to  be  suddenly  dazzled,  and  resolve  at  once  to 
change  the  nature  of  the  expedition,  and  to  the  brilliant  con- 
tests in  the  unknown  waters  of  tlie  Ocean  should  prefer  the 
inglorious  lal)or  of  groping  about  in  new  lands  of  savages  in 
search  and  gathering  of  gold  ?  And  would  not  the  suspicion 
that  the  Portuguese  were  talking  for  the  purpose  of  hinderiiiif 
the  passage  of  the  Spanish  expedition  to  the  Moluccas,  which 
Rojas  says  presented  itself  to  his  mind,  not  present  itself  spon- 
taneously not  only  to  Cabot's,  but  to  every  one's  else  ? 

But  why  should  Rojas  have  so  impudently  distorted  the 
truth  ?  Because  a  charge  of  insubordination  and  treaehciy 
hung  over  his  head,  and  it  was  too  much  for  his  advantage  to 
appear  to  his  judges  as  a  victim  of  his  zeal  for  the  honor 
of  Spain  and  his  loyalty  to  the  Emperor's  orders.  Nor  was 
he  a  man  to  hesitate  at  a  lie  to  gain  his  end. — Of  this  too 
we  shall  have  the  clearest  evidence  further  on. — Moreover  his 
remark  is  not  only  contradicted  by  the  intrinsic  arguments  of 
the  deed  itself,  it  is  openly  belied  by  the  authority  of  Ra- 
mirez an  eye  witness  and  impartial  relator  of  that  voyage.* 
And  Rojas  himself  shows  that  it  is  false  and  calumnious, 
for,  as  happens  when  passion  rules  the  mind,  wishing  to  give 
proof  of  what  he  asserted,  he  was  not  aware  that  the  reasons 
he  presented  bore  the  visible  imprint  of  falsehood.  He  con- 
cludes his  accusation  by  saying  that  Cabot  decided  on  the 
change  "more  from  want  of  courage  than  desire  of  wealth."  f 
Sebastian    Cabot    afraid    of    the    sea  I  The    man  who  first 


*SeeApp.  xxxvii. 


t"Mas  per  falta  deanimo  que  por  Riqueza."No.  7, 


R0JA8  8  CHAUQEH  AGAINHT  CABOT. 


1-73 


touched  tho  frozen  shares  of  (Jrccnland,  first  poiU'tr{tte(l  into 
Hu  Icon's  Bay,  w  hose  courage  uiid  hardilKHMl  terriliod  even  his 
own  mariners  ! 

But  Rdjiisdoes  not  stop  licre.  In  tho  fury  of  his  attack  ho 
attempts  a  more  grave  and  torri hie  charge,  saying  that  Cal)ot 
even  tried  to  luive  him  put  to  death.  Hin  words  are  :  "A  few 
(Itiys  after  tliat,  the  said  Sehastian  Cahot  continuing  in  hit; 
hiite  and  deadly  enmity  against  the  said  Francis  do  Kcijas,  and 
.seeing  tiiat  he  more  tlian  any  one  else  asked  and  advised  that 
they  should  follow  the  voyage  which  was  ordered  hy  His  Maj- 
esty, to  carry  out  his  evil  intention  more  freely  he  resolved  to 
iiave  the  said  Captain  Francis  de  Rojas  treacherously  mur- 
dered, and  to  put  it  in  execution  he  had  two  armed  men  at 
cectaiii  times  in  his  room  to  .stab  him,  and  as  he  could  not  put 
it  into  effect,  God  not  permitting  such  great  wrong  and 
treason,  in  order  that  per  fas  or  per  nefas  his  damnahk) 
intention  might  have  effect,  he  issued  process  against  him, 
without  hearing  him  or  giving  him  a  copy  of  it,  suborning 
witnesses  to  depose  falsely  against  the  said  Captain.* 

Rojas  has  charged  Cabot  v  '  th  so  many  accusations  evident  ly 
false  and  calumnious,  tliat  without  fear  of  otlending  truth 
we  might  set  this  accusation  also  down  amongst  the  calum- 
nies without  further  inquiry.  But  us  tho  slightest  app(\u-- 
ances  suddenly  assume  the  substance  of  great  realities  to  minds 
over-excited  by  passion,  I  am  willing  to  admit  that  either  de- 
ceived by  the  creations  of  his  own  fancy,  or  seduced  by  tho 
false  suggestions  of  some  evil  spirit  (for  a  brood  of  such  always 
},nitliers  around  a  mind  agitated  by  violent  passion), — 1  am 
willing  to  admit  that  he  really  believed   in   the  truth  of 


*". .  .(lesdes  a  poco  dias  continnando  d  diclio  pcl)!t=tiiin  trabnto  en  el  odin  y  cn- 
emistad  capital  que  contra  el  dicho  francisco  de  RnjMs  tenia  y  visto  como  cl 
mas  que  todos  le  reqiieria  e  aconsejaba  que  siguiese  el  viaje  que  por  su  niajies- 
tud  le  hera  mahdado  para  maa  libremente  cuniplir  su  mala  voluntad  arm  do 
de  liacer  matar  a  traycion  al  dicho  capitan  francisco  de  Uojas-y  para  ponci  lo 
en  efecto  tuvo  dos  personas  armadas  ciertas  vcces  en  su  camara  para  quo  le 
raatnsen  a  puguladas  e  como  tio  pudo  efectuar  no  permiliendo  Dins  tan  irrand 
niidiiad  y  traycion  porque  por  fas  o  por  nnfas  su  dagnada  voluntad  aviese 
cfecio  liizo  proceso  contra  el  sin  le  oyr  ni  dar  trasludo  3f)bornando  tesligos  para 
que  depusiesen  falsamente  contra  el  dicho  Capitan. ..."  No.  ix. 


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174 


THE  LIFE  OF  SEBASTIAN  CABOT. 


an  intended  assassination.    For   Cabot's  complete  acf|iiittal 
it  suffices  for  the  present  to  say  that  the  only  witness  called 
by    Rojas   in   support    of  the  fact,  could  give   the  judges 
no  other    proof  than  this,  that  a  certain   person  had  told 
him  that   he  with    another  had  been    employed  by  Cabot 
to  kill  Rojas.      And  this  witness  who  so  deposes,  very  rarely 
departs  a  hair's  breadth  from  Rojas's  accusation,  but  re})eats  it 
often  entirely  in  the  same  words,  even  in  the  case  of  tliose  ac- 
cusations which  other  proofs  and  testimony  show  clearly  to 
be  false  and  calumnious.*  However,  the  course  of  the  nar- 
rative will  furnish  direct  proof  that  Rojas  was  lyinji;  iniim 
dently  when  he  accused    Cabot  of  having  at   Peri^iainbuco 
yielded  to  the  wheedling  of  the  Portuguese,  and  consequontlv 
his  vaunted  opposition  to  the  alteration  of  the  scope  of  tho  ex- 
pedition falls  to  the  ground.      The  real  truth  is  that  the  fac- 
tion hostile  to  Cabot  had  derived  great  advantage  from  the 
long  stay  at  Pernambuco  in  ease  and  idleness.     The  possibil- 
ity of  gathering  together  from  the  different  ships  gave  oppor- 
tunity and  incentive  for  communicating  their  ideas,  favoring 
one  another's  proposals,  gaining  new  partisans,  and  maturing 
plans.      Mendez  and  Rojas  were  the  recognized  leaders  in 
this  movement  of  insubordination  and  mutiny,  and  it  maybe 
that  becoming  bold  from  the  number  and  zeal  of  tlieir  follow- 
ers, they  did  not  go  so  cautiously  to  work  as  the  dangorous- 
ness  of  the  affair  required.       Hence    Cabot,  who  always  kept 
his  eye  on  them,  when  he  deemed  he  had  a  sufficient  hold  on 
them,  came  down  on  them  unexpectedly,  seized  their  papers, 
and  imprisoned  them  both.f     It  is  not  possible  for  us  at  this 


*  "  Oyo  decir  a  AloDso  bueno.  .  .  .  q\iel  dicho  Sebastian  Qavoto  lo  tubo  ael 
e  a  fraDcisco  casar  ala  puerta  di  su  camara  aparcebidos  para  dar  de  puguludos  a 
Francisco  Rojas. "— See  App.  xxxv. 

t  Yten  sy  saben  q\iel  dicho  Sebastian  Caboto  estando  surto  en  pernambuco 
sobrc  la  dicha  costa  del  brasyl  mando  prender  a  losdichos  F'-ancisco  de  Kojns 
e  a  Mactin  meudez  per  los  juramentos  e  motines  que  avia  hecbo  e  de  cudadiii 
hazia  contra  el  dicho  Sebastian  caboto. — Probanda  de  Sebastian  Caboto,  xv 
Pregunta. 

For  Rojas,  see  also  his  ix,  x,  and  xi  Interrogatories;  for  Mendez,  the  x  Interrog- 
atory of  the  Proofs  presented  by  his  mother  Catiiarine  Vusquez  against  Cabot. 

Rojas  speaks  of  tiiis  new  seizure  of  liis  letters  at  Pernambuco  in  his  vi  luter- 
rogatory  when  charging  that  previous  seizure  at  Palma  Island. 


KOJAS  AND  MENDEZ  AHUESTED. 


175 


distance  of  time,  and  without  the  necessary  documents,  to  de- 
cide wli(}ther  in  this  arrest  Cabot  acted  with  all  the  prudence 
required  in  so  important  a  matter  ;  but  we  can  safely  declare 
tliat  he  was  incredibly  imprudent  and  unwary  in  his  conduct 
after  the  arrest.  He  immediately  began  inquiries  on  all  sides 
for  proofs  of  their  guilt  and  the  treachery  :  then,  after  keeping 
tliem  for  some  days  conHned  on  board  the  Santa  Maria  com- 
manded by  Caro,  whether  because  the  results  of  the  inquests 
did  not  show  sufficient  grounds  for  continuing  this  severity 
towards  taem  or  because  he  hoped  by  a  proof  of  kindness  to 
bring  them  to  better  sentiments,  ho  sent  to  release  Rojas,  and 
bring  him  to  his  ship,  where  he  rebuked  him  in  a  friendly 
way  for  his  conduct,  and  made  him  see  the  danger  he  brought 
upon  himself  personally  and  on  the  whole  expedition,  and  ex- 
pressing confidence  that  in  the  future  he  would  give  no  cause 
for  suspicion  or  complaint,  sent  him  to  his  own  ship  and  re- 
stored him  to  duty.  In  this  release  there  is  no  mention 
made  of  Mendez,  but  no  doubt  he  was  included,  as  we  find  him 
likewise  at  liberty  in  the  sequel.* 

It  was  a  grave  error  to  proceed  to  the  arrest  of  Mendez  and 
Rojas  unless  he  was  almcst  certain  to  show  clearly  their  guilti- 
ness ;  to  set  them  free  after  being  arrested,  and  what  is 
more,  to  restore  Rojas  to  his  former  raiik  and  command,  was 
an  error  so  grave  that  it  is  a  wonder  that  a  man  like  Cabot 
should  make  it.  To  believe  that  a  resolute,  energetic,  proud  man, 
as  everything  indicates  that  Rojas  was,  should  let  himself  be 
affected,  if  guilty,  hy  a  proof  of  kindness,  was  on  the  part  of 
Cabot  unparalleled  ingenuousness.  For  men  like  that  to  feel 
under  obligations  to  an  enemy  is  not  a  motive  for  friendship 
and  concord,  it  is  a  prick  to  move  fierce  hate  :  the  duty  of 
gratitude  is  a  burden  which  weighs  intolerably  on  their  heart 
and  they  can  feel  no  peace  till  they  rid  themselves  of  it,  and  the 


• 


*  Yten  si  saben  que  antes  que  el  dicho  sebastiiin  cnboto  se  partlese  de  pernam-  • 
buco  que  es  en  la  dicha  costa  del  brasyl  embio  al  dicho  fraiicisco  de  Rojas  a  la 
naotrenidad  y  lo  torno  en  su  ofl^'io  de  cnpitan  como  de  antes  lo  hera  e  le  a- 
monosto  de  parte  de  su  magesta  que  fuese  leal  e  que  serviese  bien  e  lealmene  a  su 
magestad.  XVI  Pregunta  delaProbiin(;ade  Seb.  Cnbnto,  App.  xxxvi  See  also 
Nos.  X  and  XI  of  the  Interrogatory  of  FranccBco  de  Itojas,  App.  xxxv. 


-<:^ 


17G 


THE  LIFE  OF  SEBASTIAN  CABOT. 


only  way  they  can  do  that  is  by  exterminating  the  ciieinv 
who  in  addition  to  all  the  rest,  humiliates  them  with  the  bur- 
den of  gratitude. 

But  it  could  not  have  been  out  of  tenderness  of  heart  that 
Cabot  released  Rojas  :  it  was  more  likely  for  want  of  sure  ovi- 
dence  of  his  guilt  to  enable  him  to  strike  with  every  appear- 
ance of  justice.  This  was  a  much  more  serious  matter ;  for 
some  natures  are  so  weak  that  they  count  themselves  lucky 
if  they  can  get  clear  of  an  accusation  in  which  they  are  more 
or  less  truly  entangled,  and  cautiously  preserve  a  prudent 
silence  for  fenr  of  worse  ;  but  high-spirited  natures  like  Rojas 
the  more  they  feel  implicated  in  an  accusation  from  wliicli 
they  escape  by  the  height  of  good  fortune  make  all  the  more 
noise,  complain  of  surprise  and  injustice,  protest  their  inno- 
cence before  God  and  men,  and  call  themselves  victims  of  the 
abuse  of  power.  In  the  XI  interrogatory  of  his  charge,  he 
calls  witnesses  to  declare  whether  it  was  said  on  the  ships  that 
Cabot  "kept  hiui  imprisoned  on  account  of  false  reports  made 
about  him,  and  as  it  was  just  that  if  he  was  guilty  he  should 
not  be  let  go  without  receiving  the  chastisement  he  deserved, 
he  demanded  that  if  he  had  in  any  wise  offended  against  tlie 
service  of  His  Majesty  and  the  good  order  of  the  said  llcotlie 
should  be  punished  for  it  without  mercy,  and  if  not,  in  the 
name  of  God  and  His  Majesty  he  demanded  the  chastisement 
of  those  detractors  who  had  deposed  falsely  against  him 
as  they  were  the  persons  who  had  sown  tares  of  discord  in  the 
said,  fleet.* 

In  this  manner  the  enmity  of  the  opposite  party  washlown 
into  a  flame,  and  in  the  opinion  of  men  in  good  faith  tlie 
good  name  of  Cabot  was  injured  and  the  authority  of  that  of 
llojas  increased. 


*"  Yten  si  .  .  .  .  yo  dire  publicamente  ....  come  el  dichn  Sebastian  gaboto 
me  iiviii  tenido  preso  por  fulsa  ndiicion  que  de  mi  le  avian  hecho  y  que  piies  liera 
tan  jiisto  que  si  yn  tulnera  culpa  no  mo  soltaia  sin  dar  el  castigo  que  portlla 
nieiecia  que  le  llequeiia  que  si  el  avlese  ecedido  en  alguna  cosa  contra  "il  servicio 
dc  su  magcstad  y  buen  nviamento  de  la  dicba  armada  le  captigase  syn  penio- 
narle  cosa  alguna  y  donde  no  quede  parte  de  Uiosy  de  su  magestad  le  Heqnerift 
castigase  a  las  personas  y  detratores  que  contra  el  falsamente  avian  dtpuesto 
Dues  beran  cabsa  de  meter  discordia  e  zizafla  en  la  dlcha  armada  . .  . .  " 


LOSS  Oh-  THE  KLAG-SHIP. 


177 


CHAPTER  XVII. 


Continnatiun  oj  the  Voyage. 


TiiiOY  loft  Peruambuco  on  the  29th  of  September.*  When 
they  reached  the  latitude  of  Cape  Faro  they  were  struck  by  a 
\i(!leiit  storm  in  which  the  li  .,g  -.lip  lost  her  small-boat. 
Arriving  at  a  place  that  promised  shelter  for  the  ships  with  a 
mountain  near  by  with  plenty  of  timber  for  building,  they 
-tn[)ped  there  for  the  purpose  of  replacing  the  lost  boat.f 
Tlio  place  is  the  same  that  was  afterwards  called  the  Bay  of 
Saint  Catharine,  in  27"^  35'  S.  L.,  the  name  then  given  to  it 
by  Sebastian  Cabot.  +  But  where  they  expected  to  repair  a 
great  loss,  they  encountered  another  still  greater  and  irrepar- 
able. At  the  entrance  of  the  bay  rise  three  small  islands,  and 
tlie  ships  made  for  tiie  channel  which  runs  close  to  the  largest 
of  tlioni,  called  St.  Catharine,  by  the  same  name  as  the  bay. 
Cabot,  apprehensive  on  account  of  their  ignorance  of  the 
place,  and  the  lightness  of  the  wind,  had  ordered  them  to  stop  ; 
but  Michael  Rodas  and  Anthonv  de  Grajeda,  one  the  pilot, 
the  other  master  of  the  flag-ship,  sisted  that  it  was  possible 
to  go  ahead  ;  Rodas  even  pledged  iiis  own  head  and  his  com- 
[uinion's  if  the  ship  was  lost.§  But  Cabot's  fears  were  not  over- 
come by  their  assertion,  and  he  ordered  soundings  to  bo  taken 


*  "Al  poco  tiempo  de  haber  siilido  dc  esic  piierto  (39 dc  Sulicmbie)  sufrcroa 
ttc' Riuiiirez.  See  App.  xxxvii. 

t  lb  anii  tlie  vi  Interrogatory  wliich  will  be  given  in  full  very  soon  in  a  note. 
All  llie  witnesses  testify  unanimously  in  confirmiUion  of  wbnJ  it  contains. 

{"Sulieron  deste  puerto  que  lliimaron  St.  Catalina."    Ramirez,  1.  c. 

S  'oyo  decir  este  testigo  al  dicho  capitan  Sebastian  oaboto  que  le  dixo  que 
si..>,'ie.«en  porque  hera  el  vionto  escaso  e  quellos  dixeron  que  los  dexase  ai  dar 
W  se  si  purdiese  la  nao  que  le.s  cortnse  la  cabe^a  e  questo  dezia  el  diclio  mig\  el 
tie  Rodas."  X  witness  to  the  viii  luierrogatory. 


178 


THE  LIFE  OF  SEBASTIAN  CABOT. 


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first,  and  charged  Rodas  himself  and  Grajeda  to  take  them* 
Tiioy  reported  that  it  was  perfectly  safe  to  procccd.f  On 
their  word  the  ship  was  advancing  quietly  when  a  sudden 
shock  told  them  they  had  struck  on  a  bank.;}:  Michael  de 
Rodas  tore  his  beard  in  despair,  and  wept,  and  cried,  "Hani; 
me,  Captain,  " — but  the  ship  was  lost  for  ever.g  Captain 
Francis  de  Rojas  in  his  interrogatories  accuses  Cabot  of  es- 
caping from  his  ship  as  soon  as  it  ran  on  the  bank,  which  dis- 
heartened the  others,  so  that  each  one  thought  only  of  suvin^' 
himself ;  which,  he  says,  was  the  cause  of  the  loss  of  tlio  ship, 
for  if  it  had  been  attended  to  at  once  it  could  easily  have  been 
got  afloat.  II  The  charge  is  a  serious  one,  and  if  true  would  be 
a  foul  brand  on  Cabot's  forehead.  But  can  it  be  accepted 
and  believed  with  no  other  evidence  than  the  word  of  Rojas, 
who  not  once  only,  but  repeatedly  proves  himself  most  clearly 
a  liar  and  slanderer  ?  Besides,  where  he  declares  that  hut  for 
him  and  his  energy,  zeal,  and  courage  the  whole  or  most  of 


*  VI  pregunta.  —  "Yten  si  saben  quel  dlcho  Sebastian  caboto  enbio  amiguel 
de  Rodas  piloto  de  la  nao  capitana  e  anton  de  grajeda  maestro  de  la  dicha  nao 
capitaim  asondur  entre  laysla  de  santa  cataliuay  la  tierra  flrine  para  que  miraseu 
si  avia  lugar  para  llevar  laa  naos  en  buen  piierto  porque  estavan  surtas  entre  tres 
yslas  peqiiegas  que  estavan  junto  a  la  dlcha  ysla  de  santa  cataliua  purqiic  avia 
de  huzcr  un  batel  para  la  nao  capitana  porque  perdio  el  que  tenia  a  cabo  frio 
con  una  gran  tormenta." 

jf  VII  pregunta.  "Yten  si  saben  quel  dicho  miguel  de  Rodas  piloto  e  anton 
de  grajeda  maestre  fueron  a  sondar  entre  la  dicha  yslade  santa  cutalina  yla 
tierra  lirme  e  se  bolvieron  al  diclio  capitan  Sebastian  caboto  e  le  dixcrlou  que 
avian  sondado  e  que  avla  lugar  para  carracas."— Probangade  Sebastian  Caboto, 

i  "  Yten  sy  saben  que  la  dicba  nao  capitana  que  se  perdio  en  la  ysla  de  santa 
cataliua  fue  por  culpa  del  dicho  miguel  de  Rodas  piloto  de  la  dicha  nao  e  dean- 
ton  de  grajeda  maestre  de  la  dicba  nao  porque  no  sondaron  como  eldicbose- 
bastiano  caboto  les  mandc."— VIII  Pregunta  de  la  Probanda  de  Sebastian  Ca- 
b(jto.     All  the  nine  witnesses  confirm  tiie  guilt  of  Rodas  and  Grajeda. 

§  ".  .  .  estando  ansi  perdida  estava  el  dicho  miguel  de  Rodas  mesandose  liis 
bar  .'as  e  llorando  e  diziendo  ahorqueme  el  capitan.  . . ."  The  witnesflesto  theviii 
Interrogatory. 

I  "toco  la  nao  capitana  sur  i  banco  loqual  visto  por  el  dicho  Sebastian gabolo 
con  falta  de  animo  la  desampard  luego  y  se  fue  huyendo  a  tierra  e  visto  lageote 
de  !a  dicha  nao  quel  capitan  della  huga  y  los  dejaba  desamparados  perdieron 
el  animo  de  rremediar  la  dicha  nao  y  cada  uno  procuraba  ccmo  mejor  podia 
de  salvar  su  persona  e  que  a  cabsa  delo  qual  perdio  la  dicba  nao  lo  que  nolii- 
ziera  sy  el  ciiohu  sf  bptiap  gaboto  no  huyera  y  la  desamparara.  .  ."  No.  15. 


LOSS  OF  TillE  FLAa-fSHIP. 


179 


tlio  cargo  of  the  ship  would  have  been  lost ;  *  a  witness  who 
belonged  to  the  crew  of  that  ship  and  was  present  at  the  niis- 
fortuno  and  the  lauding  of  the  person?  and  things,  says  the 
merit  of  saving  the  n;iost  of  the  cargo  was  wholly  due  to  the 
orders  and  activity  of  Cabot,  f 

In  their  distress  for  the  loss  of  the  flag-ship  they  all  fclt  a 
happy  sense  of  relief  on  learning  from  some  Indians  in  canoes 
that  there  were  Christians,i.e.  Europeans,  in  the  neighborhood. 
hiJeed,  one  of  them  presented  himself  the  next  day  and  said 
there  were  tifteen  of  them,  all  belonging  to  Loaysa's  fleet,  left 
there  in  consequence  of  a  great  storm  which  the  fleet  suiiered 
from  in  that  sea.  The  rest  too,  as  was  natural,  ran  to  see  and 
welcome  them  as  soon  as  they  know  of  their  arrival. ;{: 

After  the  accident  to  the  flng-sliip,  instead  of  building  ;i 
small-boat,  they  had  to  think  of  constructing  a  galiot  to  carry 
as  much  of  the  cargo  as  they  were  able  to  save  from  tlie 
wrcck.§  But  the  portion  saved  was  less  tlian  tluit  which  they 
were  forced  to  see  perish,  and  the  loss  of  tlie  ship  wtirf  a  IjIow 
which  the  ex{)edition  never  got  over. 

The  witnesses  called  in  the  suit  between  Cabot  and  Vasquez 
say  unanimously  that  in  the  flag-ship  the  expedition  lost 
heavily  in  provisions  and  ammunition;  and  one  testifies  that  in 


*  "si  por  el  dicho  capitan  francisco  de  Rojus  que  nomo  buen'  servidor  de  su 
magestad  arri«sgo  su  persona  no  fueru  se  perdierau  lus  dichas  cohus  u  la  mayor 
parte  dellas  .  .  .  ."  No.  16  of  bis  interrogatories 

t  "sabe  e  vio  ansimismo  que  todo  lo  que  se  pudo  salvar  d'j  la  diclia  nao  se 
sacoe  se  puso  mucba  deligencia  en  ello  porque  ansi  lo  maudkva  e'  "oho  capi- 
tuQ  Sebastian  caboto  e  se  bazia  asy  e  lo  vio  asy  este  testigo  porqucs?  :i  en  Li  di- 
cha  nao  capitan  a  al  tieiupo  que  se  pcrdio."  X  witness  to  ix  Int.  A  Cabot's 
proofs. 

t  Ramirez,  App.  xxxvii.  Tbese  men  belonged  to  the  crew  of  tbeS.  Gabriel, 
one  of  the  seven  ships  of  Loaysa,  which  was  commanded  by  Don  Rodrigo  de 
Acunlia.  Terribly  beaten  about  by  a  violent  storm  for  many  days,  he  had  the 
good  fortuue  of  finding  refuge  in  this  bay.  But  a  great  part  of  Lis  men,  worn 
out  by  the  sufferings  endured, dreading  those  which  still  awaited  them,ou  laud- 
ing here,  refused  to  continue  on  tho  voyage,  and  as  he  insisted  ou  their  return- 
ing to  their  duty  he  was  so  far  from  moving  them  that  it  was  all  he  could  do 
to  escape  from  them  with  his  life.  Only  a  few  of  those  who  remained  on  shore 
were  alive;  the  nr^ost  of  them  were  drowned  by  the  capsizing  of  a  boat  they 
w«re  in.  See  Navftrrete,  v,  Doc.  No.  xv,  p.  313,  &8. 

ill  Kamirez  1.  c.  —Cabot  in  the  xvii  Question  of  his  proofs. 


m" 


^^■i 


•ii;-'" 


nv' 


180 


THE  tIFE  OF  SEBASTIAN  CABOT. 


4,. 


liis  opinirtn  they  lost  no  loss  than  lialf  of  thoir  stores  of  food  Ik- 
sides  slirouds,  sails,  anchors,  and  all  sorts  of  marine  slomstliat 
were  stowed  there  for  the  fleet's  use  ;  and  that  this  sliip  alom 
vas  more  valuable  than  all  the  others  toj^other.*  'J'o  tliislos.; 
wli.'ch  was  incalculably  great  in  the  case  of  an  expedition  coj,. 
tempjatiiiga  long  voyage,  must  be  added  another  still  <;i(iitii, 
tbat  all  oi-  nearly  all  the  expedition  foil  sick,  and  fortlicino^t 
part,  to  fall  sick  and  to  die  were  the  same  thing.  On  tlii.snll 
agree  ;  Uamirez  in  his  narrative,  Cabot's  accusers,  nnd  ('iilmt 
himself  f  The  voyage  from  Pcrnambuco  to  St.  Catliiuineliad 
been  most  l;djorioiis,  and  as  many  of  the  expedition  were 
not  seamen,  but  persons  engaged  in  trade,who  followed  Cabot 
for  the  account  of  the  Merchants'  Company  with  a  viowto 
the  gains  hoped  for  from  the  Moluccas  and  the  fancied  lands  df 
Oplnr  and  Tarshish,  these  unaccustomed  to  long  and  laldi- 
ions  navigation,  all  reached  St.  Catharine  already  broken  with 
labor  and  sufFering  To  restore  them  they  needed  a  liealtliy 
climate,  good  and  wholesome  food,  and  instead  of  these  tlioy 
found  the  direct  opposites  :  the  climate  especially,  with  its  in- 
tense ho«it,  its  moistrre,  and  the  exhalations  fi'oni  the  hw 
grounds  and  rank  vegetation,  proved  fatal  to  them.  They  caught 
a  violent  fever  against  which  there  was  no  defense  ;  they  were 
taken  down  with  the  disease  and  never  got  up  again.  Many 
of  the  sailors  even,  yielded  to  the  malignant  sicknes.s.  And  the 
very  few  who  came  out  clear  from  that  pestilence  might  count 
it  a  miracle.  The  greater  part  of  the  men  were  sick,  say 
some  of  the  witnesses  ;  all  or  nearly  all  were  so,  say  the  others.^ 

*  "paresce  aeste  dicho  testigo  que  la  dicha  naocapltana  hera  los  dos  parUs 
de  dicha  armada. ..  .porque  en  la  diclia  nao  yvan  mucUos  aparejos  para  l;i 
diclia  armada  de  xarcias  y  rescatcs  y  ancoras  y  velas  e  otras  muclias  costis  y 
inucho  maptenimiento  e  que  cree  esto  testigo  que  aviamas  mantenimieiitoenlfi 
diclia  iiao  capitana  que  no  en  todas  las  otrasnaos  e  que  lo  cree  por  que  al  tiempo 
que  se  perdio  la  dicha  nao  vio  lo  que  avia  en  ella. ..."  x  testigo  a,  la  xii  Pre- 
guiitu.  See  also  ix  Preguata. 

t  See  Kojas,  laterrogatory  xvii,— Cabot,  Pregunta  x  of  his  proofs.— llvmirez, 
App.  xxi'^ii. 

X  Pregunta  x  de  la  Prolmn^a  de  Sebastian  Cabota 

I.    Ttsdgo en  fa  ysla  de  Santa  Catalina  adolesprs  mucba  gente  0  todo  de 

lo  que  yva  en  la  dicba  armada  e  se  murieroa  alii  muchos  dellos  de  calenturas 
que  Ifis  dio  e  de  la  tierra  que  los  provQ.  t , , 


REPORTS  OF  WEALTH  ON  LA  PLATA. 


1$1 


And  better  than  by  the  witnesses'  words  we  are  told  so  hy  the 
state  of  the  fleet,  when  it  again  sets  sail  to  continue  tiie  voy- 


age. 


Besides  the  fifteen  Spaniards  of  Loaysa's  fleet  there  wore  at 
that  bay  two  others  who  had  belonged  to  that  of  John  Dia35  <lo 
Soils,  and  were  with  him  at  the  discovery  of  the  liio  do  La 
riata.  Those  were  Melchior  Ramirez  and  Henry  Montes, 
and  tliey  fraternized  more  closely  than  the  others  with  Ca- 
bot's people. 

"These,"  says  Lewis  Itamirez  in  his  narrative,  "informed 
the  captain  of  the  great  treasures  of  the  country,  and  that  as- 
cending the  River  de  Solis  and  entering  Paraguay  they 
would  iind  a  ridge  abounding  in  gold,  silver,  and  other  metals, 
mih  which  thcymujlit  fill  their  vessels."*  The  general  asked  them 
for  a  specimen  of  tliat  gold  and  silver,  and  they  told  how  some 
of  their  companions  benig  near  those  mountains  wore  able  to 
observe  the  pieces  of  gold  obtained  from  that  ridge,  and  which 
tlie  Indians  were  carrying.  Wishing  to  go  bnck  to  that  place 
they  were  attacked  by  Guaranis  to  rob  them  of  the  slaves 
they  were  taking  loaded  with  the  metal ;  and  that  on  this 
account,  and  because  they  had  sent  to  Spain  a  little  before,  as 
much  as  two  arrobas.f  of  gold,  they  only  kept  a  few  pieces, 
that  they  had  set  aside  for  the  Virgin  of  Guadalupe;}:  the  only 


:iii 


I  • 


III.  Testigo vio  la  mas  de  la  gente  de  la  dicha  armada  cayeron  ma- 

los 

V.  Testigo  .  r.  .los  mas  dellos  cayeron  todos  mains 

VIII.  Testigo. . .  .enfermaroa  toda  o  la  mas  parte  de  la  gente. . . 

IX.  Testigo murieron  Ijartos  de  los  que  yvan  en  la  dicha  armada.... todos 

qiK  no  qiiedo  ninguno  de  los  que  yvan  en  la  dicha  armnda  adolespieron.... 

A.  Testigo en  la  ysla  de  santa  catalina  adolesgi6  toda  la  gente. .  .  .que  no 

quedo  ninguno. 

Tlie  answers  to  the  xH  Interrogatory  repeat  and  confirm  this,  that  nearly  all 
were  taijen  sick,  and  many  died  immediately,  or  within  a  few  days  after  they 
leftSt.  Catliarine's  Bay 

—  los  quales  informaron  al  capitan  de  la  gran  riqitf  za  de  la  tierra  y  de 
como  saliendo  del  rio  de  solis  y  cntvando  por  el  Paraguaj  llegarien  a  dar 
con  unii  sierra  abundant©  en  oro,  plata  y  otros  metales,  con  los  pudierian 
llermr  las  naves."  Sec  App.  xxxvii. 

t  The  Arrolv-i  is  a  Spanish  Weight  equal  to  25  pounds  of  16  ounces  each. 

t  Guadalupe  is  a  city  of  Spain  in  the  province  of  Toledo,  where  there  is  a 


■ 


.' 


-%!« 


T^ 


182 


THE  LIFE  OF  SEBASTIAN  CABOT. 


p. 


U 


pieces  of  gdd  they  showed.     To  their  ofler  to  go  with  liim. 
tlio  Captain  replied  that  his  road  did  not  lie  that  way.* 

From  the  narrative  of  Ramirez  it  is  clear  that  it  was  at 
the  Bay  of  St.  Catharine  that  Cabot  was  first  told  of  the  wealth 
of  the  Plata  ;  a  further  proof  that  Rojas  lied  when  ho  accused 
Cabot  of  believing  tiie  words  of  ihe  enemies  of  Spain,  the 
Portuguese,  at  Pernambuco,  and  on  their  stories  decidinjr  at 
that  time  to  stop  his  expedition  at  the  Plata.  Ramirez  is  a 
witness  free  from  all  suspicion,  for  he  was  present  all  through, 
and  wrote  his  narrative  fi-om  the  banks  of  the  Plata  itself, 
more  than  two  years  before  the  expedition  returned  to  8pnin; 
at  a  time  not  only  when  nothing  could  have  been  known  of 
the  suit  which  was  brought  after  the  return  to  Europe,  but  he 
was  even  ignorant  whether  Rojas  and  the  rest  were 
still  alive,  and  whether  he  himself  would  ever  return  to 
Spain  ;  and  he  was  the  first  to  give  an  unofficial  account  of 
the  voyage,  and  sent  it  to  Spain  by  the  first  ship  of  tliat  ex- 
pedition which  revisited  Europe.  It  agrees  perfectly  with 
what  Cabot  says  in  his  defence  to  the  charges  made  by  the 
mother  of  Martin  Mendez.f  All  tlie  ten  witnesses  produced 
by  Cabot  not  only  confirm  his  words,  but  one  of  them  even 
mentions  the  persistency  of  the  two  Spaniards  to  overcome 
Cabot's  reluctance,  and  winning  over  to  their  views  the  wishes 
and  hopes  of  the  men  who  accompanied  him.  One  of  the 
latter  who  went  home  with  Montes  and  saw  the  quantity 
of  gold  Ramirez  tells  of  which  he  was  keeping,  speaks  of  it  in 
these  words  :  "  He  told  the  men  of  the  expedition  that  never 


celebriited  Siinclunry  dedicated  to  tlic  Blessed  Virgin.  It  is  tiic  sfime  sancluiiry 
after  wliich  Christ oplier  Columlnis  named  one  of  tlie  islands  of  the  Antilles. 

*  "  a  ]a  olferta  qnc  ellos  liicievon  de  acompanarle  contesto  el  capitan  que 
no  era  aquel  sii  camino."  See  App  xxxvii. 

f  "  Yten  si  !?al)en  que  en  la  diclia  ysla  do  san'a  catalina  se  liallnron  do?  onims 
que  avian  ydo  con  el  capitan  jiian  diaz  de  solis  e  dixeron  al  diclio  cnpitan 
se1)astian  caboto  e  a  toda  la  gente  de  la  armada  qne  fnesen  al  Rio  de  solis 
poi(|iic  avia  ay  crandes  riqnezas  de  oro  e  plata  e  qtie  unos  comivifierns  Ruyni 
avian  ydo  alia  c  traydo  muclio  oro  y  plata  lo  qual  avian  enbiado  a  espiiriae 
que  los  dichos  sus  compafieros  bolvieron  otra  vez  alia  y  traxeron  piertas  miies- 
tras  de  oro  y  plata  al  dicho  capitan  Sebastian  caboto  las  quales  miiestras  vieron 
la  genie  de  la  armada  el  uno  de  los  quales  se  llamava  enriqne  montes  y  el  ntrn 
raelclior  ramirez  natural  de  la  villa  de  lepe."    Pregunta  xviii. 


THE  DECISION  TO  A8CEND  LA  PLATA. 


183 


were  men  so  fortunate  as  those  of  the  fleet,  for  it  was  said 
there  was  enough  silver  and  gold  at  the  River  do  Solis  to  niako 
them  all  rich.  "  *  Another  relates  of  Montes  that  he  fshowed 
(lie  men  of  the  expedition  liis  specimens  of  gold,  and  told 
wonders  of  the  riches  of  that  country,  ar.d  that  they  niit;lit 
load  all  their  ships  with  gold  and  silver,  f  Tlioir  words  nat- 
urally gained  the  power  of  effective  eloquence  from  the  fact 
thatthoy  had  heen  companions  of  8olis,and  were  eye-witnesses 
of  what  they  related,  and  otFered  themselves  as  safe  guides  sure 
of  the  way. 

A  fleet  in  normal  condition,  trusting  and  agreeing  with 
its  commander,  with  provisions  and  ammunition,  in  good 
health,  would  doubtless  have  felt  its  constancy  shaken 
bvsuch  words,  and  every  heart  would  have  struggled  between 
continuing  the  voyage  to  the  end  as  determined  on,  and  stop- 
ping at  the  prospect  of  such  unexpected  abundance  of  gold. 
Now  that  every  thing  was  wrong,  minds  heated  with  disputes 
and  suspicions,  bodies  weakened  by  pestilence,  the  strength  of 
the  ships  half  destroyed,  most  of  the  provisions  lost,  it  would 
liave  been  an  almost  incredible  miracle  if  they  liad  re- 
sisted the  temptation.  But  why  speak  of  temptation  ?  The  fleet 
was  in  a  condition  to  take  advantage  of  the  ofier  as  of  a  pro- 
viding by  Heaven  for  their  necessities.  Indeed,  when  we 
see  them  afterwards  sailing  from  St.  Catharine,  there  are 
so  few  men  fit  for  duty  that  it  is  difficult  to  muster  hands 
enough  to  work  the  ship  ;  and  death  will  continue  on  the  voy- 
age to  make  fresh  victims  of  those  left  ;  and  the  scarcity 
of  provisions,  in  consequence  of  the  unexpected  stopping 
at  Pernambuco,  the  additional  delay  at  the  Bay  of  St.  Catha- 
rine, and  the  loss  of  the  flag-ship  will  be  such  that  on  arriving 
at  the  mouths  of  the  river  they  will  be  in  distress. 


*  I  Tesligo •'  Dixo  que fne  fi  buscnr  a  Enrique  montes  «» le  hallo  e 

viocomo  tenia  unas  cuentasde  oroe  un  poco  de  plata  e  como  dezia  a  la  gente 
deladicha  armada  que  nuncaonbres  fueron  tan  hien  aventurr.dos  como  los  de 
ladicha  armada  porque  dezlan  que  avia  tanta  plata  y  oro  en  el  Rio  de  solis  que 
dezian  que  todos  serian  rices " 

t  HI  Testigo. .  ."6  que  ansymismo  vio  este  testigo  las  dichas  muesf  ras  de  oro 
y  plata  que  las  mostro  a  este  testigo  e  a  otros  el  diclio  enrique  monies  e  que  le 
dezia  mira  hijos  que  desto se  cargara  las  naos  de  oto  e  de  plata. . . ." 


184 


TIIK  LIFE  OK  SKHASTIAN  CAllOT. 


On   tho   othor   hand,  Cabot  and  a  few   hosidos  rojijardcd 
the  expedition  as  aiming  at  tiio  coveted  discovery  of  Opliir  ami 
Tarshish,    but   most   of  them   had   in  view    the   wcaltli  ui 
tho  Moluccas,  for  which  ah)ne  tlie  mercliants  of  Sevilhi  Inul  for 
tho  first  time  united  to  get  tijat  fleet  together.  Stoppinjr  tlun 
at  the  Plata  the  precise  purpose  of  the  expedition  was  al)aii- 
doncd,  but  its  object  was  substantially  achieved.   And  even 
if  ('abot  was  anxious  to  keep  up  to  the  lovi'l  of  the  puiposcin 
view,    what   means   had    he   of  repairing   tho   luiii   of  his 
fleet?      He  might    maintain  respect  and  obedience  to  iiis 
authority  with  a  stronger  hand  ;    he  might  liope  that  liis 
men    now    overcome   by  fatigue   and    sickness    niiglit  ro- 
cover  once  they  weroaway  from  the  deadly  air  of  St  Catliariiio; 
but  how  supply  the  want  of  food  ?  He  could  not  at  St.  Catlm- 
rine,  for  his  men  were  nearly  all  sick,  and  if  he  did  notliuny 
away  tnero    would    soon    be   none   of  them    left,   and  the 
Indigenes,  good   and  willing  as  they  were,  were  only  al)loto 
afford  a  scant  relief  for  a  few  days.  For  the  sick  tlusy  could  do 
nothing,  for  the  food  of  tlie  country  so  far  from  helping  tore- 
store  them  to  health  is  said  by  one  of  the  witnesses  to  be  a  prin- 
cipal cause  of  tho  sickness,  the  stomachs  of  the  Spaniards  not 
being  accustomed  to  it.*  And  how  little  European  food  they 
had  left  is  shown  by  tho  fact  that  when  they  came  to  the 
Plata  and  wanted  to  ascertain  the  fertility  of  the  soil,  they 
could  only  collect  from  all  the   vessels   fifty  two  grains  of 
wheat  for  sowing. f      What  was  there  left  for  a  prudent  com- 
mander to  do  in  such  circumstances  ?  To  seize  the  oidy  means 
of  safety  open  to  him.;};  That  is  what  Cabot  did.  He  assembled 


*  The  ninth  witness  to  tlic  x  Interrosratory  of  Sebastian  Cabot  says.  ". . . . 
mnrieron  bartos  .  . .  .  y  crec  que  a  causa  dc  ser  la  navegacion  larsa  e  nmdarlos 
ayres  y  tierraa  y  bastimentoa  adolespieron  e  mnrieron  .  .  .  ." 

f'Senbraron  en  el  raes  de  setiembre  LII  granos  de  tigro  q  no  su  hnllo  mas  en 
las  nans  .  .  .  ."  From  the  inscription  on  the  chart  of  Sebastian  Cabot  of  1544, 
Sue  App.  No.  xxxix. 

t  "...  el  qua  dho  Capitan  Sebastian  Caboto  vino  a  este  Rio  por  caso  form- 
ito,  porque  la  nao  capitana  en  q  yva  se  le  perdio,  y  visto  que  no  podia  scgmr 
el  diclio  su  viaje,  accordo  de  descubrlr  con  la  gEte  que  lleava  el  dicbo  Rio,  vista 
la  grttdissima  relacion  que  los  Indios  de  la  tierra  le  dieron  de  la  giadhs- 
Bima  riqueza  de  oro  y  plata,  que  en  la  dha  tierra  avia.  . .  ."  ib.  "Yten  sy  saben 


TIIK  DKCISION  TO  ASCKXH  T-A  PLATA. 


iSf) 


his  offi-ors,  put  the  matter  before  tlieni,  nnd  l>y  their  lul- 
viueiiiKl  iii)i)r()V)il  decided  to  keep  t\w  fleet  at  flie  IMatii.  Only 
hvo  olHccrs  were  uj^iiinst  it,  or  if  we  take  only  disinter- 
(.sted  witnesses,  a  single  one,  Rojas.  Wo  have  already  seen  how 
ho  boiirtted  of  having  opposed  ihc  chango  of  the  voyage 
lit  Peinninbuco  ;  but  that,  except  in  his  boast,  thoro  is  no 
hint  from  any  quarter  that  any  thing  of  the  sort  wasthought 
of  at  PiTiianibuco,  that  all  the  circumstances  contradict 
ii.  iui<I  the  testimony  of  Levis  Jiaminv-  absolutely  denies  it. 
Il  IS  tlieroforfc  clear  that  Rojas  in  the  bitterness  of  his  enmity 
Inwards  Cabot  maliciously  altered  the  place  where  this  delib- 
iintion  was  held,  because  at  St.  Catlnirine  there  was  every 
lhiii<^  to  excuse  Cabot,  and  at  Penuunbuco  every  thing  would 
have  shown  him  to  blame.  His  op})osition  at  St.  Catharine  is 
iiK'iitionod  by  one  of  the  witnesses  called  to  testify  whether  the 
voyage  was  altered  with  or  without  tlie  ai>proval  of  all 
the  oHit'crs.  "From  there,"  the  witness  says,  "they  sailed  for 
tho  River  de  Solis,  nnd  it  seemed  to  the  witness  that  it 
was  with  the  agreement  of  the  said  officers,  because  tho 
witness  saw  no  attempt  of  the  said  oflicers  to  prevent  it, 
except  that  ho  heard  say  that  tho  said  Captain  Rojas  urged 
that  tlioy  should  not  go  to  tho  River  do  Solis,  but  con- 
liiiuo  their  voyage."*  What  motive  had  Rojas  in  this  opposi- 
tion? It  can  be  inferred  witli  certainty,  by  setting  it  all 
down  to  his  enmity  towards  Cabot.  He  opposed  the  change 
because  Cabot  proposed  it :  in  the  desperate  circumstances  in 
which  the  fleet  was,  ho  would  have  supported  it,  if  Cabot  had 

que  perdida  !a  dicha  nao  capitana  no  pudo  cl  dicho  Sebastian  cabolo  seguir  su 
viiije  porque  la  dicha  nao  capitana  litra  la  rnitad  de  la  armada  e  tambicn 
poique  toda  lagente  enfermo  luugo  con  el  ayre  dc  la  tieriaqnc  los  provo.  -xii 
I'rcguntade  la  Probanda  de  Seb.  Caboto. 

The  witnepses  confirm  this,  especially  the  X,  who  stops  to  tell  the  onor- 
mnu3  loss  of  provisions  on  the  flag-ship,  shrouds,  snils,  anchors,  every  sort  of 
sliip  tackle.  The  X  repeats  and  confirms  the  same  thing  with  new  testimony  to 
tlie  xix  Intfirrogatory. 

*" de  alii  se  partieron  para  el  Rio  de  solis,  e  le  pares^e  a  este  testigo 

que  seria  con  accuerdo  de  losdiclios  oflgiales  por  queste  testigo  no  les  vio  hazer 
(ieligenpia  ningiina  a  los  dichos  ofi^iales  para  que  no  fuesen  salvo  que  oyo  de- 
cir  quel  dicho  capltan  Rojas  le  avia  requerido  que  no  fuese  al  Rio  de  soils  sync 
que  seguiese  BU  viaje  .  .  ,  ." 


♦    ■ 


Ap 


i'  I 


"I,  : 


186 


THE  LIFE  OF  SEBASTIAN  CABOT, 


shut  liis  ears  to  the  splendid  promises  of  the  River  rle  Roljci, 

The  other  opponent  of  the  change  was  Mendez,  if  ^e 
credit  the  XX  interrogatory  of  the  accusition  Avhicli  nis 
mother  Catharine  Vasquez  brought  against  Sebastian  Cabot. 
But  no  witness  answered  this  interrogatory,  and  nowhere  else 
is  there  any  mention  of  his  opposition.  The  witnospos  also 
declare  in  many  places  that  Cabot  always  acted  in  matters  of 
importance  by  the  advice  of  the  officers.  Most  of  all  tlicn 
he  would  have  asked  their  advice  and  conformed  to  it  in  tlii'; 
the  mor":  important  matter  of  all,  one  that  altered  substan- 
tially tlin  nature  and  scope  of  the  expedition.* 

They  sailed  from  the  Bay  of  St.  Catharine  February  15, 1527, 
and  if,  notwithstanding  the  great  number  sick  and  the  many 
deadjthey  were  able  to  complete  the  construction  of  the  galiot 
in  a  relatively  short  time,  it  was  due  to  the  assistance  of  tlie  na- 
tive? influenc  id  by  the  pressure  and  zeal  of  Henry  Montcs  who 
had  acquirea  great  authority  over  them.f 

The  state  of  the  expedition,  in  consequence  of  the  loss  of  the 
flag-ship  and  the  number  sick  or  dead,  was  most  desperate, 
but  it  would  be  childish  to  suppose  that  in  the  general  distress 
there  was  any  taming,  or  even  temporary  cessation,  of  personal 
enmity.  Human  minds  brutalized  by  passion  are  not  so  noble. 
But  rather,  when  misfortune  gives  a  good  chance  to  vent  their 
rage,  with  fierce  eagerness  they  seize  on  that,  and  the  grief  and 
complanit  become  weapons  to  strike  with  and  to  kill.  What 
we  are  going  to  relate  shows  that  this  must  have  been  true  in 
the  case  of  this  expedition. 

Here  is  the  fact  as  Cabot  briefly  tells  it  in  the  twenty-third 
point  of  ''»is  defense  .  "Let  the  witn'^sses  tell  v^'hether  they 
know  that  Cabot  being  with  his  fleet  at  the  island  Ox'St.  Cath- 
arine found  sufficient  information  that  the  said  Francis  ue 
Rojas,  Martin  Mendez,  and  Michael  de  Rodas  had  stimnl  the 
whole  fleet  to  mutiny  agairist  him,  and  he,  having  tlie  said 
information  and  issuing  process  against  them,  although  they 


*"Dixoque...t<idas  las  oosiis  queliazian  que  tocavan  nl  servicio  tie  su  mages- 
tad  e  a  la  dicba  nrmada  lo  h:i/.ian  fion  su  consejo  e  acuerdo  de  los  dicbos  ofi- 
Qlales.  ..."  X  witness  to  the  xvii  Interrogatory  of  Cabot's  proofs. 

t  Ramirez,  1.  c. 


ARREST  OP  KO.TAS  AND  OTHERS. 


187 


deserved  capital  punishment,  was  loath  to  inflict  it,  but  treat- 
ing them  with  mercy,  deposed  them  and  left  them  on  the 
sr'd  island.* 

Here,  by  way  of  parenthesis,  I  think  it  well  to  anticipate  a 
difficulty  which  might  pre^.iont  itself  later  to  the  reader.  Ca- 
bot and  the  witnesses  say  that  these  officers  were  deposed  at 
the  islanc"  of  St.Cathariae  ;  others  say,  instead,  the  island  of 
Patos.  To  explain  the  matter,  it  should  be  known  that  in 
the  bay  wuere  Cabot  was  then,  there  is  an  island  of  some  size, 
called  by  him  St.  Catharine,  from  which  the  bay  is  named. 
Near  this  island  there  are  others  not  so  large,  one  of  whi^li  is 
called  Patos  ;  f  and  it  was  at  the  latter  that  Cabot  really  de- 
posed the  three  officers  ;  but  he  indicates  the  place  by  the  gen- 
eral name  of  the  bay. 

The  witnesses  called  to  answer  Cabot's  interrogatory  testify 
to  the  arrest  and  deposal,  but  for  the  causes  they  either;  know 
nothing  or  merely  repeat  what  was  generally  reported  in  the 
fleet,  that  there  had  been  an  attempt  to  get  the  men  of  the  ex- 
pedition to  rebel  agaiucjt  their  leader.  Only  one  in  his  testi- 
mony throws  a  ray  of  light  on  the  obscurity  which  confronts 
us.  He  relates  having  seen  the  anchor  weighed  and  the  sails 
set  of  the  caravel  while  the  men  of  the  expedition  were  on 
shore,  and  he  heard  it  said  in  the  fleet  that  they  wanted  to 
mutiny  with  this  vessel,  but  he  did  not  see,  nor  hear  tell  who 
they  were  who  wanted  to  mutiny  ;  but  it  was  reported  that 
Cabot  had  hot  words  about  it  wilh  Baptist  de  Negron,  the 
master  of  the   caravel.:]:     From   this   testimony  it  appears 


*"Yten  si  saben  questando  el  liicho  Sebastian  oaboto  con  la  dicha  su  armada 

cn'adicha  ysla  do  snnta  cafalina  ovoynformaoion  vastante  deco.nolosdicbos 

francisco  de  Rojas  y  martin  Menricz  e  migiiel  de  Rodas  amotinavan  toda  la 

Rente  de  la  diciia  armada  contra  el  dicho  capitan  y  avida  la  dicha  ynformacion 

y  1:  ;clio  proceso  contra  ellos  atinqtio  merescian  pona  de  miierte  no  se  la  qiiiao 

fiar  usando  de  piedad  con  ellos  (;e.slerro  en  la  diclia  ysla  de  santa  catalina."  Int. 
xxiii. 

t  la  diclia  nao  nporto  nl  pncrto  de  los  ratos  qnes  cerca  de  la  dicha  ysla  de 
santa  nn,talina."_vi  witness  to  xxii  Int.  of  Oat.  Vasqnez. 

+  V^ll,  testiiTo.  ".  .  .  este  testisro  ....  vio  qnel  dicho  capitan  caboto  mando 

c  ar  en  la  dicha  ysla  de  santa  catalina  a  los  dichos  francisco  de  Rojns  e  mar- 

D  mendez  e  miguel  de  rodas  pero  queste  testlgo  non  sabe  poiv,iie  nl  por  que 

no  lox  dexo  mas  de  quanto  vio  cstc  tcstigo  que  traxeron  il  leme  y  las  ve)  .s  de 


188 


THE  LIFE  OF  SEBASTIAN  CABOT. 


that  an  attempt  at  mutiny  was  made,  but  failed  ;  and 
as  the  name  of  Rojas  was  not  mentioned  nor  that  of  the 
other  two,  we  must  presume  that  they  did  not  openly  show 
themselves,  but  remained  ready  to  come  forward  if  the  affair 
showed  signs  of  succeeding.  But  it  could  not  have  been 
difficult  for  the  commander  of  the  expedition  to  recognize 
at  once  who  were  at  the  head  of  the  attempt.  The 
previous  acts  at  Pernambuco  must  have  kept  him  always 
awake  not  to  lose  sight  of  the  three  most  dangerous  officers,  to 
watch  their  words,  and  to  count  their  steps.  And  this  con- 
tinual suspicion  with  his  constant  watchfulness  was,  no  doubt, 
what  caused  the  revolt  to  miscarry,  and  consequently  the  first 
steps  of  the  inquiry  were  at  once  directed  towards  these  tliree.* 
After  the  deposal  of  Mendez,  Rifos,  who  had  performed  the 
duties  of  Lieutenant  of  the  expedition,  assumed  the  titlc.f 

An  addition  at  the  end  of  Sebastian  Cabot's  proofs  says : 
"There  was  another  inquiry  made  by  Sebastian  Cabot  while 
on  the  ships,  on  which  he  commanded  the  arrest  of  Francis  de 
Rojas,  Martin  Mendez,  and  Michael  de  Rodas,  and  on  this 
he  found  their  guilt  for  which  he  abandoned  them,  and 
there  are  in  it  certain  opinions  which  he  took  in  order  to  de- 
cide what  he  should  do  in  the  matter.  It  was  made  July  2, 
1526,  without  interrogatoriea"  J 

la  caravela  de  la  dicha  armada  estando  la  dlcha  gente  en  tierra  e  questo  testigo 
pregnnto  que  porque  Irayan  tl  dicho  teme  e  velas  de  la  dicha  caravela  e  que 
oyo  decir  a  la  gente  de  la  dicha  armada  que  porque  se  avian  querido  alQarcon 
la  dich.i  caravela  pero  qupsto  testigo  no  oyo  decir  ui  vio  quienes  fueseu  losque 
8c  qi;  rian  algar  con  la  dicha  caravela  e  que  oyo  decir  este  testigo  a  la  sazon  i. 
la  dicha  gente  que  avian  refiido  el  dicho  capitan  Sebastian  cabotocon  el  patron 
de  la  nao  de  la  trenidad  que  se  llamava  bautista  de  negron  sobre  la  traydade 
las  dichas  velas  y  leme." 

*  IX.  test.—  "  Dixo  que  lo  que  desta  progunta  este  testigo  sabe  es  que  vioto- 
mar  ^iertos  testigos  de  ynformagion  contra  los  dichos  francisco  de  Rojas  y  mar- 
tin mendez  e  miguel  de  Rodas  no  sabe  este  testigo  porque  causa  ni  si  fue  has- 
tante  ni  si  no  porque  este  testigo  no  vio  los  testigos  de,  la  dicha  ynforma(,ion  c 
no  sabe  otra  cosa." 

+  See  the  xviii  Interrogatory  of  the  proofs  of  Catharine  Vasqucz,  pdU  tk 
testimony  in  relation  to  it. 

t  Ay  otrainforma9ion  hecha  por  Sebastian  caboto  estando  en  las  nana  porla 
qual  mando  prender  al  capitan  Rojas  e  a  martin  mendez  c  a  miguel  de  Rodas  e 
por  ella  fiinda  la  culpa  que  tenian  para  los  desterrar  ay  en  ella  citrtos  par- 


ARREST  OF  RO.TAS  AND  OTHERS. 


180 


The  date  of  the  year  and  month  informs  us  that  this  in- 
quiry does  not  relate  to  the  arrest  and  deposal  made  at  St. 
Catharine,  but  the  first  arrest  at  Pernambuco.  Indeed,  wo 
know  that  they  left  there  the  29th  of  September  152G,  after 
staying  three  months  :  therefore  in  July  they  were  at  Per- 
nambuco. But  this  inquiry  was  called  up  anew  at  .St. 
Catharine  when  the  conduct  of  these  officers  had  to  bo  again 
in^'cstigated,  and  it  served  as  the  basis  of  the  severe  judg- 
ment given  against  them.  Since  at  Pernambuco  Cabot's 
severity  went  no  further  than  the  arrest  of  Rojas  and 
Mendez,  it  must  be  supposed  that  Rodas  had  not  greatly 
compromised  himself  at  that  time,  ard  that  his  conduct 
grew  worse  in  the  sequel. 

The  mother  of  Mendez,  in  her  XIV  interrogatory,  also 
chiims  damages  from  Cabot  for  tlie  losses  her  son  suffered  in 
his  property  from  not  being  allowed  to  be  present  when  every 
thing  they  could  save  was  taken  out  of  tlie  flag-ship  to  put 
into  the  galiot  :*  and  Rojas  in  the  19th  point  of  Ids  accusa- 
tion cliarges  Cabot  with  keeping  him  a  prisoner  for  many 
(lays  ;|-  and  according  to  one  witness  Martin  Mendez  was  kept 
many  days  in  arrest.;}:  The  arrest,  then,  must  have  been  some 
time  before  the  departure.  But  as  Rojas  himself  boasts  of  his 
zeal  and  care  for  the  sick  and  convalescent,  it  cannot  be  placed 
very  soon  after  the  arri\val.  According  to  me,  it  must  have  been 
when,  recovering  from  the  first  alarm  created  by  the  sickness 
and  the  deaths,  the  most  of  the  convalescents  began  to  regain 
their  strength,  and  the  gaiiot  being  completed  they  were  pr3- 
paring  to  load  her.  Then  the  three  officers  were  arrested 
and  sent  under  guard  on  board  of  Gregory  Caro's  vessel. 


c(;eres  que  tomo  para  deternainar  en  lo  qne  so1)ip11o  fivin  do  liarer  hiKose  n 
dosde  jiillo  de  mill  e  qiiinientos  y  vente  v  sevs  nfios  esta  IiccIki  syn  yateno- 
gatorio. 

"...  protests  ...  (le  covrnr  del  diclio  .'!el)ast.ian  caboto  .  .  .  tsda  la 
liiizittula  que  en  la  nao  capitana  fc  le  avia  peidido  por  no  I'star  piessentc  en 
ellii ;  la  qual  el  salvara  como  otros  nfiiiclios  salvaron  la  suya  por  estar  pie- 
st'utes .  . ,  .  " 

t"  Le  tornop,  prendery  tiiv6  prcRomucho.sdias."      ■ 

t  "Dixo  ....  quel  dicho  Martin  Mendei:  despiies  de  aver  estado  muchosdJaa 
preso  en  la  nao  del  dicho  capitan  caro" .  .  .  .  vi  test,  xi  Pre.c;unta  de  la 
Probao^a  de  Catalina  Vasquez. 


1 


"•'■'vj-"  ■  Ti'  *^7.lfTf*~y'7 


190 


THE  LIFE  OF  SEB-ASTIAN  CABOT. 


Iii.'i 


Kcjas  in  his  interrogatories  could  not  omit  mention  of  liis 
sccojid  arrest,  and  as  he  could  not  say  it  was  for  his  opposition 
to  tliechangingof  their  voyage,  for  he  had  given  that  before, 
ho  says  ho  was  arrested  for  his  great  care  of  and  interest  in  Hie 
sick,  and  because  he  took  great  pains  to  save  the  storey  of  ♦'•(; 
flag-ship.      His  zeal  in  those  matters  had  won  him  the  afl'oc- 
tion  and  gratitude  of  all,  at  which  Cabot  being  jealous  caused 
him  to  be  arrested  and  deposed,  the  only  way  in  his  power 
to  throw  odium  on  him.*     It  would  be  a  waste  of  words  for 
us  to  stop  to  take  up  and  discuss  this  new  charge;  let  us,  tlien, 
go  on.  During  their  confinement,  Rojas  and  Mendcz  made  a 
great  noise,  protesting  their  innocence,  demanding  justice,  and 
trying  by  every  means  to  interest  their  companions  in  tlieir 
favor.     But  their  companions  were  not  moved,  and  Cabot,  in- 
formed of  what  was  passing,  paid  no  attention  to  their  clanior.f 
When  the  time  came  for  sailing,  he  sent  the  chief  constable 
of  the  fleet  to  the  Santa  Maria  del  Espinar  with  a  boat  to  take 
the  three  prisoners  and  leave  them  on  the  island  of  Patos. 
Informed    of  the  fate  that   awaited  them,  the  three  cried 
loudly  and  protested  that  they  were  innocent  and  were  treated 
with  violence  solely  out  of  the  captain's  enmity  towards  thorn; 
but  their  clamors  were  dispersed  by  the  wind,  and  the  expedi- 
tion put  out  to  sea  leaving  them  on  that  island. :{: 

•See his  17,18,  and  19  Interrogatories". .  •  -por  razon  destas  honas  obrasque 
hazia  ala  gente  como  por  aver  sydo  cabsa  que  las  c..sas  de  la  nao  perd.du 
sesnlva^en  e  visto  que  toda  la  pente  por  llazou  dello  le  tenia  buena  voluatau 
de  enbidia  que  al  dicho  Francisco  de  Roj-.s  luvo  se  le  acresento  y  doblo  cl 
odio  y  .nr.la  voluntad  que  con  el  tenia. . . .  por  rrazon  de  la  d.cba  inb.dia  y  ei 
emystad  capital. . ..  syi.  tene-  cabsa ny  el  dicho copilan  aver  dicho  ni  hecbo  cosa 
pornne  le  toru6  a  prender..."  No.  16.  t  .     rri 

t  See  proofs  of  C.talina  Vasquez.-Int.  xi,  xii,  xiii,  xiv.  xv.-Int.  ofFraucs 
de  Rojas,  xix.—App.  xxxiv  and  XXXV. 

t  "esfando  la  cente  va  embnrcnda  pari  pavtir  dela  vaya  delos  patos.  uizosa- 
car...y  lUbarlos  a  dejar  en  aqndla  ysla.    .  ."De Rojas  Interrogatory,  JNo.  J). 

"E-xte  testigo  viocomo  el  algnnzil  mayor  de  la  dicba  armada  Hego  a  la  ciicna 

nao  del  dicho  capitnn  caro e  llnnio  a  los  dlchos  martin  mendez  etc....   viii 

test,  xvi  Pregunta  de  la  ProbanQa  de  Catalina  Vasquez  :    The  other  witucs^s 
repeat  the  same  thing. 

"Dixo  queste  testigo  vio  como....eI  dicho  alguazil  los  llevo  a  tierra  e  que 
los  dlchos  martin  mendez  e  capitan  Rojas  yvan  dando  Itozes  quexandose  del 
dicho  capitan  general  deniandando  a  dios  jn8ticia....etc."  ix  test,  xvi  Pregunta 
....also  other  witnesses.  See  likewise  xviii  Pregunta. 


wm 


THE  THREE  OFFICEUH  LEFT  AT  PALOS. 


191 


Rojas  in  the  22nd  point  of  his  accusation  and  the  mother  of 
Mcndcz  in  her  XVII  interrogatory,  assert  that  Cabot  in  aban- 
doning thorn  left  them  slaves  to  a  rich  Indian  of  that  place,  and 
Kojas  bays  that  the  inhabitants  of  the  island  were  cannibals  who 
luid  iilroady  eaten  many  Christians,  and  Cabot's  hope  in  aban- 
doning them  was  that  they  should  be  treated  in  the  same  way.* 
Tlio  impudence  of  this  assertion  is  beyond  measure.  In  the  first 
])liice  it  is  well  to  mention  that  neither  of  the  two  witnesses 
called  by  Vasc^uez  knows  any  tiling  about  it.  The  first  has  seen 
tlic  three  prisoners  delivered  to  one  of  the  principal  inhab- 
itants of  the  island;  the  other  has  hoard  say  that  Cabot  recom- 
mended them  to  two  of  the  principal  Indians  of  the  place; 
they  know  no  more.f 

Then  as  to  the  character  of  the  place,  the  calumny  of  Rojas 
is  answered  by  the  fifteen  Christians  of  Loaysa's  fleet  found 
thoro  and  two  of  Solis's  expedition,  concerning  whom  neither 
Rojas  nor  anybody  else  ever  said  that  they  wore  subjected  to  ill- 
treatment  or  violence  on  the  part  of  the  inhabitants  of  those 
islands.  On  the  contrary  it  appears  that  Henry  Montez  had 
acquired  a  certain  authority  over  them,  for  on  his  invitation 
they  willingly  helped  Cabot's  men  to  build  the  galiot.  He 
is  answered  by  Diego  Garcia,  the  envious  adversary  of  Se- 
bastian Cabot  who  sought  every  opportunity  of  backbiting  and 


*  XVII  Pregunta  de  la  Probanda  de  Cataliaa  Vasquez  :  — "  Yten  si  saben  et 
cetera  que  despues  quel  dicho  ciipitan  Sebastian  caboto  mando  becbar  y 
hecho  a  lus  dicbos  martia  mendez  e  fruucisco  de  Rojas  ea  la  dicba  ysla  uom- 
brada  santa  cataliua  los  dio  per  esclavos  a  ud  yudiu  mayoral  de  aquella  tierra 
que  se  llama  topadera  dizieudo  ay  te  dexo  estos  cristiauos  para  que  te  aga 
cunase  anzuelas...," 

No.  32  dell'  Interrogatorio  del  capitan  Francisco  Rojas: — "Iten  si  saben  etc. 
que  la  gents  de  aquella  tierra  coiuen  carno  bumana  y  an  muerto  y  comido  en 
ella  muchos  cristiauos  y  para  que  asy  biziese  aldicbo  capitan  lo  dejo  en  la  dicba 
ysla  el  dicbo  Sebastian  cabolo  y  sobre  esto  le  dejo  por  esclavo  de  un  indio 
pi'acipal  de  aquella  tierra...." 

t  VI  Witness:  "  dixo  que  vio  quedar  a  los  dicbos. ...  en  poder  del  dicbo 
tapavara  (tbe  ricb  Indian)  pero  que  lo  demas  contenido  en  la  dicba  pregunta 
este  testigo  no  lo  sabe  ni  lo  oyo  dezir." 

Tbe  ix  witness  :  " dixo  queste  tesllgo  oyo  dezir  publicamcnte que  al 

liempo  que  dicbo  Sebastian  caboto  avia  niamialo  dexar  a  los  dicbos. ...  les 
avia  dexado  encomendados  a  dos  yudios  mayorales  de  aquella  ysla  e  que  lo 
demas  conteuido  en  la  dicba  pregunta  que  no  lo  sabe." 


192 


THK  LIFE  OP  SEBASTIAN  CABOT. 


t 


,?JK  sottinfe'himin  a  bad  light,  and  who  says  of  the  inh.'ibitantsof 
that  island  :  "  They  are  a  good  race  of  people,  who  treat 
Christians  well,  and  gave  him  a  quantity  of  food,  becausothev 
were  good  Indians  ;"*  and  after  a  few  linos  more.,  he  adds  that 
"  they  were  the  best  people  in  that  region,  "f  In  fine,  Kojas 
belies  his  own  calumny  by  his  experience  in  reniainiiijjjalonir 
time  among  those  Indians,  and  returning  safe  and  sound  to 
Spain,  and  if  Mendez  and  Rodas  lost  their  life  there,  it  was 
not  the  Indians  that  took  it,  bnt  Rojas  himself  was  the  cause 
of  their  sad  and  premature  death,  as  we  shall  see  further  on. 

Then,  as  to  the  fact  of  leaving  them  as  slaves  to  an  Indian, 
hero  is  the  interrogatory  to  which  Cabot  produced  ten  wit- 
nesses. "  Whether  they  know  that  when  they  left  Francis  ik 
llojas,  Martin  Mendez,  and  Michael  do  Rodas  at  the  said  island 
of  St.  Catharine,  the  said  Sebastian  Cabot  delivered  to  tluni 
all  their  property  and  clothing,  iind  two  butts  of  wine,  and 
gunpowder,  and  fire-locks,  and  many  other  things  and  recom- 
mended strongly  to  the  principal  Indians  of  the  place  to  treat 
them  well."  ;}: 

The  first  witness  says  as  to  the  delivery  of  their  propoity 
and  the  other  things  named  in  the  interrogatory,  that  with 
his  own  eyes  he  saw  it  done  :  he  has  no  personal  kno\vled<j;e 
about  the  recommendation,  but  knows  that  it  was  generally  re- 
ported in  the  fleet.§     The  second  witness  testifies  to  both;  the 


*  " e  andando  en  el  camino  allesxamos  a  im  rio  que  se  llama  el  Ri(i 

(lelos  Patos  qiiesta  a  veynte  e  syete  snidos  que  ay  uua  bueim  geueracion  que 
hiice  iniiy  buena  obra  a  los  cristianos  e  lliunanse  los  carriores,  e  alii  iios 
dieron  nmchas  viliiallas  que  llama  myllo  e  liariiia  de  mandioco  e  mucliasciila- 
baras  e  nuiclios  patos  e  otios  muchos  mantenimientos  porque  berau  biieuos 
yndios,"  Relncion  y  derrotero  de  Diego  Garcia. 

+  "  ....  liera  .  .  .  .mas  buena  pente  que  en  aqucllas  partes."  lb. 

X  "Yten  .si  saben  que  quandoquedaron  en  la  dicba  ysla  de  santa  catalinalos 
dicbos  francisco  de  Rojas e  martin  mendez  e  mic;uel  de  Ilndas  el  dicbo scbastiaii 
caboto  les  entrego  lodo  su  re.scate  e  ropa  y  dos  botas  de  vino  y  (jlerta  polvoni 
de  lombarda  y  escopetns  y  otras  mucbas  cosus  y  que  log  encomendo  muclio  ii 
Jos  yndios  mayoralcs  de  la  lierra  que  les  biziesen  biieu  tratamiento  —  "  xxiv 
Piegunta  de  la  Probanga  de  Caboto. 

§  "Di.Ko  que  la  sabe  como  en  ella  se  contiene  en  qiianto  a  lo  que  tocaaentre- 

garles lo  contenido  en  la  pregunta  porque  se  lo  vio  entregar  es<e  testiiro  ii 

los  susodichos  cstando  en  tierra  e  que  en  lo  que  toco  al  encomeudallos  a  los 


THE  SUPPLIES  LEFT  WITH  THEM. 


193 


fourth  Juul  seventh  by  hearsay  ;  *  the  third  and  fiftli  as  eye- 
witnesses, f  The  sixth  confirms  both  on  hearsay,  with  the 
aiMilioii  that  when  it  was  impossible  to  get  from  the  ship 
some  wino  that  belonged  to  Kojas,  the  latter  ordered  it  di- 
vided iinioiig  his  servants  ;  and  the  servants  afterwards  com- 
plained about  that  wine  to  Michael  Rifos,  Cabot's  Lieuten- 
ant :  and  that  besides  the  things  delivered  to  them  the  three 
ik'?:osc(l  otHcers  sent  to  ask  for  more,  and  had  them. if.  The 
ninth,  an  oyo-witness,  remembers  the  delivery  and  rccom- 
nicndation,  and  the  interpreter  who  explained  to  ihe  Indians 
Cabot's  rocioinmendation  and  his  promise  to  them  that  on  his 
loturii  ho  would  stop  there  and  if  he  found  they  had  treated 
thcui  well  he  would  make  them  many  presents.§  The  tenth 
saw  the  delivery  of  all  their  things  to  the  three  officers,  and 
rt'lates  that  he  heard  that  as  they  did  not  like  the  wine 
of  one  ca,sk  they  had  on  shore,  Cabot  ordered  another  of  good 
qiiahty  to  be  given  them  in  place  of  it.|| 
Tiie  reader  must  not  think  I  have  stopped  unnecessarily  to 


(iiclios  yudios  que  uo  lo  vio  este  testigo  pero  que  lo  oyo  decir  asy  a  la  gente  de 
lailicliu  jiniiada." 

*  II.— "Dixo  que  oyo  dezir  lo  coritenido  en  la  dicha  preguiila  publicnmeute  a 
la  gente  de  la  diclia  ariiiiida. — iv  id.  vii  id. 

t  III.  —  "Dixo  que  la  sabe  coino  en  ella  se  coutiene  poique  lo  vio  asy  pasar 

"Di.ve  que  la  sabe  como  en  ella  se  coritienc  poique  lo  vio  asy  ..." 

t'Dixo  que  oyo  dezir  .  .  .  quel  diclio  capilan  Sebastian  caboto  avia  dado  a 
losiliclioscapiiau  Kojas  e  martin  inendez  e  nnguel  de  llodas  todos  sus  resca'-es 
tropas  svni)  fuera  <;ieito  bidro  y  0erto  vino  que  no  se  podia  sacar  de  la  (.ao 
e  (jiie  por  (^ierto  bidro  de  aqucllo  vino  e  otras  cosas  que  avian  quedudo  avia 

ilicho  el  dicho  capitun  Rojas  que  se  diesen  a  sus  criados e  que  despues  le 

paresgio  que  les  vio  andar  en  pleyto  a  los  criados  del  dicho  capitan  Rojas  con 
iiiiqiiei  Rifos  teiiiente  del  diclio  Sebastian  caboto. .  .  .  e  que  ansimisnio  oyo  de- 
lii  a  la  diclia  .i;cnte  que  ....  caboto  los  avia  eiicomendado  a  los  yndios  que 
I'lstratasenbien." 

? "  Di.Ko  que  sabe  e  vio  .  .  .  .  que  les  dexo  ....  sus  rescates  .  .  .  .  y  sus 
caxas  con  todo  lo  que  dentro  tenian  ....  que  ansi  mismo  vio  que  los  encoin- 
endo  ft  lo8  yndios  principales  de  la  dicha  ysla  por  una  lengua  que  estava  alii 
para  que  se  lo  dixese  a  los  dichos  yndios  para  que  los  tratasen  bien  y  les  diede 
1"  ipie  oviesen  inenester  por  quel  bolveria  por  alii  y  les  daria  muchas  dadivas." 

i"  Dixo  que  ....  vio  como  ....  caboto  mando  qtie  diesen  ....  todo  lo 
que  tenian  en  las  dichas  naos  que  f  uese  sugo  .  .  .  .  e  que  oyo  decir  ....  que 
una  bnta  de  vino  que  tenia  en  tienti  non  bnra  muy  buen  vino  ....  caboto 
mando  que  les  llevasen  otra  bota  de  vino." 

13 


'  *i' 


■  f. 


194 


TUK  LIFE  OF  SEBASTIAN  CABOT. 


11 


I 


'  11 


collect  all  this  evidence  ;  for  it  will  not  be  idle  to  remember  it 
when  the  tempest  now  gathering  over  Cabot's  head  bursts 
upon  him. 

It  will  bo  useful  likewise  to  see  how  Herrera,  tiio  classic 
historiiin  of  Spanish  navigation,  has  presented  to  his  readers 
the  account  of  these  events;  we  have  already  quoted  in  its  place 
the  passage  where  rapidly  and  with  a  vagueness  which  to 
Biddlo  seems  indicative  of  falsehood,  he  relates  the  voyage 
from  the  coast  of  Spain  to  the  isle  of  Patos.*  Let  us  resume 
his  narrative  at  that  point  and  follow  it.  Herrera  says 
then  :  "The  provisions  ran  short  from  improper  issue  .... 
and  so  he  came  to  the  island  of  Patos  in  great  famine. 
He  was  well  rf>ceived  by  the  Indians  who  gave  him  a  great 
quantity  of  victuals  with  which  he  supplied  the  ships,  al- 
though he  repaid  them  ill,  for  he  took  four  sons  of  the  princi- 
pal men.  He  passed  on  till  he  entered  the  river  which  they 
called  then  De  Solis,  and  is  now  La  Plata,  leaving  on  an  un- 
inhabited island  the  General's  Lieutenant,  Martin  Mendez, 
Captain  Francis  de  Rojas,  and  Michael  de  Rodas ;  because 
he  not  only  had  ill-will  towards  them,  but  they  had  freely 
found  fault  with  his  government  ;  and  in  fact  he  did  not  go 
to  the  Spice  Islands,  because  he  had  not  provisions,  and  the 
men  would  not  follow  him  as  they  feared  to  be  badly  man- 
aged in  the  Strait  (of  Magellan)."! 

Let  us  put  aside  the  capture  of  the  four  young  Indians, 
which  we  will  examine  hereafter,  and  first  look  into  the 
rest.  Herrera  gives  as  the  cause  of  the  provisions  run- 
ning short  that   they  had   been  improperly  issued.    But 


*  See  ch.  xvi. 

t  " llego  a  la  isla  de  Patos,  con  mucha  hambre.  T  fue  bien  recebldode 

los  Jndios,  que  le  dieron  mucha  victiialla,  con  que  abastecid  los  navios, 
iiuaqtie  se  lo  pago  mal  porque  tomo  quatro  hijos  de  los  hombres  mas 
principales.  Passo  adelante,  hasta  entrar  en  el  rio,  que  entonce8  llamavan  de 
Solis,  y  aora  de  la  Plata,  dexando  en  una  isla  despoblada  al  Tcniente  de 
General,  Martin  Mendez,  al  Capitan  Fninciaco  de  Rojas,  y  a  Mipuel  de  Riidas. 
porque  demas  que  lea  tenia  mala  voluntad,  con  libertad  repreliendinn  sn  to- 
vierno  :  y  en  efeto  no  passd  a  la  E&peceria  ;  porque  ni  Ucva  vituall'i,  ni  lagente 
le  quiso  seguir  temiendo  de  eer  ma^  governada  en  el  estreclio." — Herrera,  in, 
lib.  X,  cap.  i. 


HEURERA  S  UNFAIRNESS. 


195 


were  they  not  unexpectedly  blockaded  by  the  fury  of  the 
sea  at  I'crnambuco  for  three  months  ?  Herrera  siiys  not  • 
a  word  about  that.  And  the  four  months  or  thereabouts 
that  they  were  detained  at  the  Bay  of  St.  Catharine  by 
sickness  and  the  necessity  of  providing  themselves  with 
a  galiot  ?  Of  this  Herrera  says  nothing.  Thus  the  period 
of  seven  months  and  over  must  have  made  some  decrease 
in  their  stock  of  provisions  !  And  the  loss  of  the  flag- 
siiip?  Herrera  continues  dumb  ;  for  him  the  shortness  of 
food  was  owing  to  improper  issue  ;  where,  then,  when, 
how  tliey  were  improperly  issued  he  does  U'^'t  say,  and 
has  not  a  word  more  on  the  matter. 

Let  us  come  to  the  second  point. 

"He  passed  on,  leaving  on  an  uninhabited  island  Mendez, 
Rojas,aud  Rodas, because  ho  not  only  had  ill-will  towards  them 
but  they  had  freely  found  fault  with  his  government."  Here 
falsehood  is  accompanied  with  the  purest  hypocrisy.  First,  the 
historian  says  the  inhal)itants  of  Patos  supplied  Cabot  with 
food,  so  that  he  was  able  to  re-victual  the  ships  ;  consequently 
tiie  island  was  inhabited,  and  with  good  people.  Then  he  says 
Cabot  loft  the  three  officers  on  an  uninhabited  island.  But  if 
they  were  left  at  Patos,  how  can  he  say  it  was  uninhabited  ? 
One  would  think  the  historian  saw  the  contradiction  and  to 
hide  it,  after  mentioning  Patos,  instead  of  saying  "  hero  ho  left 
iho  three  officers,"  he  uses  the  general  term,  island,  with  the 
indefinite  article  so  that  the  reader  is  naturally  led  to  suppose 
that  it  was  some  other  place,  and  cannot  but  condemn  Cabot's 
cruelty,  and  pity  the  three  unfortunates. 

But  the  hardest  part  is  the  conclusion  of  the  account,  from 
whicli  I  suspect  that  Herrera  had  no  knowledge  of  the  suit 
afterwards  brought  against  Cabot,  and  that  his  account  is  not 
to  be  attributed  to  bad  faith,  but  to  the  falsehood  of  the  docu- 
ments he  had  ai  hand.  In  that  suit  Catharine  Vasquez, 
motlier  of  Mendez,  in  her  XX  interrogatory,  and  Rojas  in 
his  VII,  VIII,  IX,  and  XII  interrogatories  accuse  Cabot  of 
wanting  to  give  up  the  voyage  to  the  Moluccas  for  the  Plata 
m  spite  of  the  remonstrance  of  his  Lieutenant  Mendez  and  of 
Captain  de  Rojas,    Rojas,  in  his  9th  and  10th  points  accuses 


m 


y 


if 


w 

III 

;. 

|i| 

T   11, 


■\.. 


196 


THE  LIFE  OF  SEKASTIAN  CAlJO'l. 


(Ja])()t  of  having  first  tried  to  Imvo  liim  killed  and  lluii  nr- 
rested  liiiii  because  ho  opposed  his  wish  to  stop  the  exptdition 
at  the  Plata;  and  again,  in  the  13th  and  llth,  uccuhch  liim 
of  refusing,  in  consequence  of  his  unfortunate  wish  to  .stop  at 
the  Plata,  to  go  as  Rojas  wanted  to  go  to  the  aid  of  Loaywi's 
ships,  which  according  to  some,  were  lost  in  the  Strait  of  iMh. 
geiliin  ;  and  C!atharino  Vasquez  for  her  son  Moiulcz  in  her 
XXIV  and  XXV  interroi^aiories,  and  Rojas  in  his  XXV,(:iill 
on  Cabot  to  answer  for  the  damages  they  suffered  by  liisiuit 
continuing  the  voyage  to  the  Moluccas.  And  here  Herrcni, after 
all  these  documents,  after  the  public  trial  concerning,'  tlicm, 
comes  forward  to  say  that  Cabot  did  not  proceed  to  tlie  Molm- 
cas  because  his  men  would  not  follow  him,  and  they  wiuihl  iidt 
follow  him  because  they  feared  he  was  not  able  to  manji^'utlic 
fleet  in  the  strait  ! 

When  they  left  the  Bay  of  St.  Catharine  they  were  still  noiirlv 
all  sick,  *  but  it  seemed  prudent  to  escape  as  soon  as  iiiigiilln' 
from  a  climate  which  had  been  so  severe  on  their  bodies  weak- 
ened by  fatigue  and  want  of  food.  A  change  of  air  was 
judged  to  be  the  best  means  of  restoring  their  strengtii.  But 
on  putting  to  sea  so  few  were  found  fit  for  any  work,  and 
even  these  so  weak,  that  they  were  hardly  able  to  manage  the 
vesseis.f 


m 


^I 

■' 

i 

'1 

'1 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

Exploration  of  (lie  River  La  Plata. 

Arkiving  at  the  mouth  of  the  Plata,  before  proceeding  fur- 
ther, we  must  remind  the  reader  how  far  the  knowledge  of  the 
region  Cabot  stopped  to  explore,  had  then  extended. 

The  first  expedition  which  the  Spaniards  sent  to  the  soutli- 


■  *  "Yten  si  saben  que  qiimido  Re  enbaico  In  diclm  geiite,  que  casi  todii  ellnes 
tiiva  doliente  .  .  .  ."  Int.  xx  of  Cabot's  proofs.  Tlie  wiluesses  depose  u-iani- 
mously  in  accordance  with  the  Interrogatory. 

+  "....  no podian  los  marineros  niarcnr  las  naos  a  causa  deyr  Ian  dolicjtesy 
flacos."ix  witness  to  the  same  Interrogatory. 


THE  PLATA  DISCOVRUED  BV  HOLia. 


107 


orn  sons  of  America,  in  search  of  a  passage  to  tlio  oaRtcTU 
(oiintrioH  of  Asia,  was  in  IHOS,  and  wiis  led  hy  John  Dia/,  do 
Soils  Hiul  Vincent  Yanes  I'inzon,  tho  hittor  a  former  captain 
ofono  of  Christopher  Cohinihus'H  ships  on  tho  «liscovory  of 
tho  Now  World.  They  wont  as  far  as  the  4()th  (Us^roc  of  .Sctutii 
liiitltudo,  hut  did  not  discover  tho  great  estuary  into  wliich  tlie 
Klvor  La  Plata  empties.  Seven  years  later,  in  1515,  Diaz  dc* 
Siills  returned  alone  to  tho  same  region,  and  to  make  sure  of 
his  soiircii  he  hegan  to  hug  the  coast  from  Cape  St.  Augustine^ 
ill  nriizil,  and  went  on  step  hy  stop  taking  note  of  every  hay 
and  liarhor  that  ho  came  to.  In  this  examination  he  discov- 
ered the  great  river  which  was  afterwards  named  liio  de  la 
Pliitii.  Its  numerous  sand  hanks  and  rocks  prevented  him 
from  venturing  in  with  his  vessels,  hut  he  thought  the  dis- 
covery too  important  to  leave  altogether  unexplored  :  and  so 
tiiklnj;  liislong-hoat  he  hegan  to  ascend  along  the  west  hank, 
ilo  had  not  proceeded  far  hefore  ho  saw  groups  of  Indians  on 
.shore.  Not  heingahle  to  hold  any  communication  with  them 
in  words,  a  mute  conversation  was  begun  between  the  two  sides 
hy  si^ns.  'ind  Solis  thought  the  Indians  invited  him  to  land  ; 
iuul  as  he  saw  them  lay  on  the  ground  near  their  feet  some- 
thing they  held  in  their  hands,  he  concluded  they  meant  to 
say  that  they  not  only  invited  him  to  land,  but  offered  him 
every  thing  they  had.  Trusting  his  interpretations  of  those 
deceitful  signs,  he  ventured  on  shore,  and  not  to  excite  sus- 
picion, wishing,  it  is  said,  to  capture  some  of  tho  natives  to 
take  to  Spain  as  specimens,  he  landed  poorly  armed  and  with 
few  men.  This  first  act  of  imprudence  was  followed  by  a 
greater,  when  seeing  the  savages  slowly  retreating  among  the 
tall  trees  of  a  neighboring  forest,  he  followed  them  almost 
alone.  He  had  hardly  entered  the  woods  when  a  shower  of 
arrows  was  shot  from  concealed  enemies,  and  before  ho  had 
time  to  lay  his  hand  on  his  arms,  he  and  all  with  him  fell 
dead.  Then  the  hidden  savages  burst  forth,  leaping  and  yell- 
ing with  delight,  fell  upon  them  and  stripped  them,  and  then 
dragging  their  bodies  to  a  great  fire  outside  of  the  woods, 
roasted  them  at  it,  and  in  sight  of  the  others  who,  beside 
themselves  with  grief  and  fear,  witnessed  from  the   boat. 


■r 

1 

m^m 


!■:■ 


198 


THE  LIKE  OP  SRHASTIAN  CAKOT. 


"•;'i 


1.' 


1/ 

■■'if; 


tlio  horrid  scene,  they  devoured  them  with  noisy  plonsiiro 
When  Uie  horril)le  story  was  told  on  the  shijJH,  there  wns  ,1 
discussion  what  should  be  done,  and  it  was  decided  to  roturii 
to  Spain.* 

Cabot  on  entering  this  estuary  stopped  at  a  sinall  is] 
and  called  S.  Lazaro,  and  remained  there  for  a  inoiitli 
to  give  his  men  time  to  recover  somewhat  from  their  loss 
of  strciigth.  In  the  meanwhile  they  were  sockiiif,'  tor 
information  about  the  place,  and  they  hailed  with  joy 
the  oight  of  a  Spaniard,  one  Francis  del  Puerto,  who  Imd 
taken  part  in  Solis's  expedition,  and  remaining  tluiro  ns 
a  slave  after  the  sad  end  of  the  leader,  had  lived  tlirongli 
humiliations  and  sufferings  beyond  description.  lie  not 
only  confirmed  the  tale  of  the  j^^reat  wealth  of  that  re- 
gion, but  even  pointed  out  the  way  to  roach  it.  Encournffcd 
by  his  words,  they  took  him  to  the  ships  ns  guide  on 
their  voyage,  and  on  May  6,  1527,  they  left  S.  Lazaro  to 
go  up  the  river.f  But  they  went  away  sick  at  heart  on 
account  of  those  they  left  dead  at  S.  Lazaro.  The  voy- 
age from  the  Bay  of  St.  Catharine  to  this  island  was  only  a 
few  days,  X  but  the  labor  of  that  short  navigation  was 
enough  to  cause  the  relapse  of  the  convalescents,  some  of 


*  "  Lo  mataron,  i  comieron  con  todos  los  Espafioles  que  saco,  1  nun  quetim 
ron  el  hatel.  Los  otros  que  de  los  navios  mlraban  alparon  anclas  i  vetas,  sin 
osar  tomar  vcnganpa  de  la  muerte  de  su  Capitan."    Gomara,  cap.  Ixxxix. 

Ilerrerii,  Dec.  ii,  lib.  i,  cap.  vii. 

Pictro  Martire  d'Anghiera,  Dec.  iii,  cap.  x. 

t  "  Stfiahi  Ifi  mngnitudo  del  rio  y  cuenta  los  muchos  trabaios  que  pasaiwi 
hasta  llei,'!*!-  li tin  pueito  que  llamaron  de  S.  Lnzaro,  donde se  detubieron  un  mo 
para  iiiformnrse  de  la  tierra.  Un  tal  Francisco  del  Puerto,  caiitivo  desdi  In 
derrota  de  Soils,  les  enter6  de  la  mucha  riqueza  del  pais  y  del  camino  que  di 
ben  seguir  para  dar  con  la  referida  sierra.  Con  esto  el  Capitnn  dctermino 
salir  de  alii  el  6  de  Mayo."    Prom  the  narrative  of  Ramirez,  App.  xxxvii. 

"  .  .  . .  e  se  fneron  el  Rio  arriba  por  la  gran  notipia  que  tenia  un  ombre  quo 
halliiron  en  el  dicho  Rio  de  Solis  que  dezia  que  aviapor  el  Rio  arriba  gruni 
fama  que  avia  mucho  oro  y  plata." 

Answer  to  the  xx  Int.  of  Cabot's  proofs. 

t  "Salieron  deste  puertoque  llamaron  St.  Catalina  el  15  de  Pebrero  de  IK. 
lleirando  despues  de  seis  dias  a  St.  Maria  punta  a  la  desembocadura  del  Rio  <!' 
Solis."  Ramirez,  ib. 


STAY  AT  H.   LAZARO. 


100 


whom  fliod  on  tho  way  ;*  nnd  others  after  nrrivin^j;  at  S. 
Liizaro.f  But  not  all  wore  able  to  (l(>part  :  the  most  of  tliem, 
from  sickness  or  loss  of  strength,  were  unnhle  to  stand 
another  voyage,  and  had  to  bo  left  on  tho  island  for  fiirtluu* 
caro  and  rest ;  for  which  reason  they  gave  the  island  now 
used  as  an  infirmary,  tho  name  of  tho  well-known  saint 
in  tho  Gospel.  But  oven  those  who  went,  between  the  sick- 
ness and  famine  they  had  gone  through,  were  so  sickly 
and  weak  that  on  sailing  they  had  not  enough  strength 
to  hoist  two  anchors  out  of  the  water,  with  their  stocks 
entiuigled  in  the  aquatic  plants  of  tho  river.:}: 

('iibot's  course  up  tho  Plata  is  all  involved  in  obscurity, 
and  tho  few  intimations  the  authors  here  and  there  give  us 
of  his  voyage  do  not  always  servo  to  direct  our  steps,  but  some- 
times by  their  mutual  contradictions,  rather  increase  our 
enbarrassment.  I  will  try  my  best  to  advance  on  their 
(lark  and  dangerous  road  ;  and  if  at  times  the  reader  shall 
not  lind  me  exactly  collecting  these  intimations  and 
putting  them  together  in  the  order  he  would  like,  I  beg 
him  beforehand  to  mitigate  the  rigor  of  his  judgment  by 
the  tliought  of  the  difficulty  tho  matter  presents. 

Horrora  says  nothing  of  the  island  of  S.  Lazaro,  and 
from  the  mouth  of  the  Plata  transports  us  directly  to  the  isl- 
and of  San  Gabriel,  thirty  miles  further  up.  Here  Cabot 
left  the  ships  and  began  the  ascent  of  the  river  in  long-boats.§ 
The  information  received  from  the  Indians  showed  the  Para- 

*  "despnes  yendo  por  la  mar,  algunos  delloa  que  yvan  enfermos  murieron." 
X  Witness  to  the  x  Int.  of  Cabot's  proofs. 

t"  8e  murieron  en  el  dicho  Rio  muchos  e  que  se  fueron  a  una  ysla  que  se  dize 
8an  lazaro  e  que  alii  estovieron  ciertos  dlas  e  que  ansymismo  se  uiurio  alii 
muclia  gente."    Answera  to  xx  Int.  of  Cabot's  proofc 

Three  other  witnesses  repeat  the  same  thing. 

t "  Yten  si  saben  que  pnr  falta  de  gente  que  corao  dicho  estava  doliente 
sedexaron  dos  anclas  y  dos  cubos  de  la  nao  santa  maiia  del  espinar  por  los 
escobenes  en  el  dicho  Rio  de  Soils  porqiie  la  gente  estava  muy  doliente  y  no 
tenian  fuerpa  para  travajar  ni  sacar  las  dichas  anclas."  xx  Int.  of  Cabot's 
proofs.  All  the  witnesses  answer  in  the  afiSrmative. 

§  "Metiose  en  el  Rio  de  la  Plata,  8ubi6  descubriendo  por  el,  y  a  poco  maa 
de  treynta  leguas  di6  en  unaisla  que  llam6  San  Gabriel."  Herrcra,  Dec.  iii,  lib. 
ix,cap.8. 


r 


a 

•■If 


:.\  .  ■    ,'  .'i 


,1  ;  .    Kij 


200 


THE  LIFE  OP  SEBASTIA:  I  CABOT. 


guay  as  the  shortest  course  to  the  gold  mountains.^    He  con- 
tinued therefore  the  ascent  towards  the  Paraguay,  and  not  nuirc 
than  seven  leagues  beyond  San  Gabriel  he  found  on  his  ii(rlii 
an  affluent  with  good  depth  of  water  at  its  mouth.      H>'  nii. 
proached  it  with  the  design  of  stopping  there,  but  tbc  natives 
aware  of  his  intention,  quickly  gathered  in  a  great  nuiltitiuli' 
and  prepared  to  oppose  him.  The  small  number  of  the  Span- 
iards and  their  extreme  weakness  would  have  mado  tluni 
avoid  the  labor  and  danger  of  an  encounter.      But  Calxit 
quickly  perceived  that  prudence  at  this  moment  would  iiavc 
been  taken  for  fear;  they  would  have  been  too  elated,  and 
their  savage  minds  have  acquired  too  much  confidence  fornow 
attacks  ;  and  a  sudden  check  on  tneir  first  attempt  would  luive 
produced  a  very  bad  effect  oa  the  Si)aniards  already  dislieart- 
ened  and  weakened  by  so  many  causes.  He  therefore  ordered 
an  immediate  onset.f    The  brave  savages  fought  valiantly, 
but  their  valor  had  to  yield  to  the  skill  and  \veaj)ons  of  the 
Spaniards.     One  particular  related  by  the  historian  Gomara 
shows  the  fierce  mirth  of  the  savages.  In  the  battle  they  had 
killed  two  Spaniards,  and  might  have  carried  them  ofl"  to  eat 
them  as  they  were  accustomed  to  do  with  their  enemies  ;  bat 
they  would  not,  saying  scornfully  that  these  were  soldiers,  and 
they  had  learned  from  Solis  and  his  companions,  what  kindoi" 
meat  they  made.j      After  driving  back  the   Indians  ihey  se- 
cured the  place  with  a  small  fort  to  which  they  gave  the  name 
of  San  Salvador.  § 

The  vicissitudes  of  the  voyage  from  the  island  of  S.  Lazaro 


*  "Oy  CDini)  si'siin  inforimicion  de  los  mistnos  iiidios  el  camiiio  mas  l)rive 
pari  ir  a  la  sierra  era  entrar  por  el  Paraguay."  llamiriz,  App.  xxxvii. 

f  "The  natives  had  collected  and  made  a  very  f()rmi(lal)le  show  of  resistance, 
hut  Cahot  witlioiit  respect  of  peril,  thought  best  to  expugne  it  hy  one  meiiiu's 
or  Mtiier,  wherein  his  boldness  tooke  good  effect  as  oftentymes  climiiicetli 
it)  li.eataffayres."  Eden,  fol.  316. 

t"En  el  puerto  de  S,  Salvador  ....  le  mataron  los  Indios  dos  Espauolcsi 
no  Ids  (juisieron  comer  diciendo  que  eran  soldados  que  ir  los  haviaii  pniliado 
en  Soils  i  sus  compafieros,"   Gomara,  cap.  Ixxxix. 

^"Surgio  alii,  ycon  los  bvteles  siele  leguas  mas  arriba  descuhrio  nnrio.qne 
lluno  San  S;dvalor,  muy  hondalile,  y  seguro  puerto  pan  las  naos,  ii;i7iii  iii 
niisma  costa  did  IJrasil,  adonile  nu-tio  su  armada  ....  Levanto  una  fortiileM 
,  .  ."  Uerrera,  Dec.  iii,   il>.  is,  cap  3.  , 


HE  ASCENDS  LA  PLATA. 


201 


to  this  place  r.re  not  known,  but  they  could  not  have 
been  few,  nor  slight.  Ramirez  mentions  them  in  a  few,  but 
si'nnficant  words  :  "  Both  they  and  tlie  others  underwent 
ercat  trouble  and  hunger."  The  others,  to  whom  he  refers,  are 
the  sick  left  at  S.  Lazaro.  As  soon  as  Cabot  had  got  his 
little  fort  of  San  Salvador  ready,  he  sent  the  galiot  to 
S.  Lazaro  to  fetch  the  sick,  who  leaving  the  island  on  Au- 
gust 25,  1527,  reached  the  fort  of  San  Salvador  on  the  2Stli.  * 
Hero  they  all  rem.r^'ned  together  till  the  end  of  the  year 
to  regain  their  health  and  strength.  But  for  many  their 
rest  came  too  late,  and  the  fort  of  San  Salvador  was  also 
alliicled  with  nniny  deaths.  Cabot,  in  his  defense,  mentions 
that  he  was  obliged  to  remain  on  the  Parana  more  than 
lialf-a-yoar  to  give  the  sick  and  convalescents  time  to  re- 
cover, but  does  not  say  where  or  when  this  was.f  From 
the  indications  furnished  by  Ramirez  there  can  be  no  doubt  it 
wiis  at  tliis  time  at  Fort  San  Salvador.  Hither  were  trans- 
ported the  sick  and  convalescent  from  S.  Lazaro  ;  and 
tiie  state  of  those  who  came  with  the  ships  is  shown 
hy  their  abandoning  two  anchors  at  that  island  from  in- 
ability to  weigh  them.  This  was  the  time  when  the  general 
condition  of  the  men  made  it  necessary  to  take  a  rest.  It  al- 
so agrees  with  the  calculation  of  time.  Wo  have  seen  that  the 
galiot  sent  to  S.  Lazaro  to  fetch  the  sick  made  the  passage 
from  that  island  to  San  Salvador  in  three  days.  Cabot  must 
have  taken  a  little  longer,  for  the  galiot  went  over  an  explored 
and  safe  course,  whereas  he  was  making  the  voyage  for  the  first 
lime,  and  therefore  had  to  move  with  caution,  and  slowly,  on 
an  unknown  way.  But,  as  the  passage  was  short,  the  dillerence 
cannot  have  been  great.  Consequently,  as  he  left  S.  Lazaro 
on  tiie  Gth  of  May,  we  oannot  be  far  out  in    thinking  he 


*  '  Unns  y  otrospadecen  miichos  trabajos  y  hamhrcs,  liasta  que  cl  general 
maiido  la  galeota  para  cnnducir  la  gente  y  azicn.lade  S.  Lazaro,  de  donde 
siilitToii  i4  25  de  Agnsto  para  llecar  el  28  al  ntievo  sitio  desde  el  general  iiabia 
iieclio  aslento  y  una  fortaleza  para  la  defensa."  Rnmirez.,  App.  xxxvii. 

*  "  1(  ten  si  saben  qiiesUxva  la  diclia  gente  doliente  en  cl  Rio  de  Parana, 
HiiR  eiitra  en  el  diclio  Rio  de  solis  mas  de  medio  afio  convaleciendo  de  la 
tliilencia  que  avian  tenido  en  queen  ests  comcdio  murieroa  muchos  dellos," 
Jxii  Int.  of  Cabot's  proofs. 


202 


THE  LIFE  OF  SEBASTIAN  CABOT. 


i'vTV,' 


reached  San  Salvador  in  the  second  half  of  May.  Then  as 
the  first  stop  recorded  after  San  Salvador  is  New-Year'.<! 
Island,  where  he  revived  on  the  first  day  of  1528,  *  we  liavo 
from  his  arrival  at  San  Salvador  till  that  at  New- Year's 
seven  months.  Subtract  from  this  the  time  spent  in  as- 
cending the  Parana  from  San  Salvador  to  New- Year's,  and 
you  will  have  the  half-year  and  more,  that  Cabot  tells  of. 

Biddlc  quotes  from  Hakluyt  the  directions  of  an  Anony- 
mous author  for  the  navigation  of  La  Plata,  in  which  after 
mentioning  the  five  mouths  which  the  Parana  empties 
through,  he  uses  these  words  to  indicate  the  distance  from  one 
of  them  :  "From  the  isle  of  Martin  Garcia  unto  St  Salvador  is 
nine  or  ten  leagues.  This  is  an  island  which  standeth  two 
leagues  within  the  first  mouth  where  Sebastian  Cabot  took  poms- 
sion." f  The  island  of  Martin  Garcia  is  at  a  short  distance  from 
the  San  Gabriel  group  which  are  nearly  opposite  to  Buenos 
Ayres,  only  a  little  more  to  the  north,  and  so  called  after  So- 
lis's  Pilot  who  was  buried  there. :{:  And  as  it  is  clearly  apparent 
from  Herrera's  words  that  he  speaks  of  an  island  of  San  Gab- 
riel, standing  alone,  by  itself,  and  he  must,  under  the  name  of 
San  Gabriel,  mean  the  group  of  five  islets  instead ;  Biddle 
suspects  that  the  Spanish  historian,  from  want  of  exactness, 
meant  by  San  Gabriel  the  island  of  Martin  Garcia,  misled  by 
its  nearness  to  that  group.  He  is  brought  to  suspect  this  by 
Eden's  account  which  says  expressly  that  De  Solis  was  killed  in 
attempting  to  take  possession  of  the  island  of  Martin  Garcia, 
and  that  it  was  the  same  afterwards  carried  by  Cabot.§  Finally 
Herrera  himself  says  that  from,  the  place  where  Cabot  on  bis 
arrival  left  his  ships  to  the  river  which  he  called  San  Salva- 
dor was  a  distance  of  seven  leagues.  Now  the  Directions  re- 
ferred to  put  the  distance  from  the  island  of  Martin  Garcia  to 
the  Port  of  San  Salvador  at  nine  leagues  ;  but  the  same  Direc- 
tions say  that  the  Port  was  two  leagues  beyond  the  mouth  of 
the  river.  And  as  Herrera  is  speaking  of  the  mouth  of  the 
river,   deducting  the   two  leagues   from   there  to  the  port 


*  This  will  he  seen  later. 

X  Eden  foi.  316,  and  App.  xzxix. 


t  Hakluyt,  vol,  iii,  p.  729. 
SBIddle,  bk.  i,ch.  XX,  p.  150. 


FIRST  ATTACK  BY  THE  GUARANIS. 


203 


there  remain  exactly  seven  leagues,  as  Herrera  has  it.  This 
fully  confirms  Biddle's  suspicion.  It  is  not  a  matter  of  any 
historical  importance,  but  still  it  ought  to  be  noticed. 

Leaving  Anthony  de  Grajeda  at  San  Salvador  in  charge  of 
the  fort  and  the  ships,  Cabot  with  the  boats  and  a  caravel  en- 
tered the  Parana  on  his  way  to  the  mouth  of  the  Paraguay.  * 
Both  banks  of  the  river  were  inhabited  by  the  Guaranis, 
"a  warlike,  treacherous,  and  haughty  people,"  says  the 
Spanish  historian,  "  calling  all  slaves  that  are  not  of  their 
language,  with  whom  they  were  always  at  war,  in  which  they 
were  very  bloody  and  cruel,  killing  all  they  could  and  spar- 
ing no  man  his  life.  .  .  .  Great  bands  started  out  and  cross- 
ing all  the  lands  of  the  nation,  extending  more  than  five 
hundred  leagues,  they  came  to  the  land  of  Peru,  and  after  do- 
ing great  destruction,  returned  victorious  to  their  home  :  but 
some  ofthem  remaining  in  the  mountains  there,  continued  to 
do  great  damage."  f  This  account  of  Herrera's,  stripped  of 
the  sentiment  of  lofty  contempt  which  the  white  man  felt  for 
the  natives  of  the  lands  he  discovered,  and  reduced  to  its  true 
proportion,  means  that  the  Guaranis  were  a  noble  people  that 
would  endure  no  masters,  not  less  fearless  to  meet  the 
enemy  openly  than  crafty  in  catching  him  in  ambush  and 
snares  ;  but  themselves  intolerant  of  a  yoke,  they  were  over- 
bearing in  imposing  it  on  others,  and  without  pity  or  mercy 
for  a  conquered  enemy. 


*  "  Levanto  una  fortaleza,  dexando  en  ella  alcuna  pente,  y  con  la  demas  en 
lo9  bateles  y  caravela  determiuode  desoubrir  a  quel  rio."  Herrera,  Dec.  iii, 
lib.  ix,  cap.  3.  "Coutiauaron  pues  el  viaje  dejando  la  fortaleza  a  cargo  de 
Gnyorio  Caro."  Ramirez,  1.  c. 

Caro'suame  in  Ramirez  is  certainly  a  mistake  in  copying,  for  we  shall  have 
conclusive  evidence  further  on  that  Anthony  dc  Grajeda  was  commandant  of 
tLc  fort,  and  that  Gregory  Caro  was  in  command  of  another  fort  much  higher 
up. 

t  "La  inas  principal  generacion  de  Indios  de  aquella  tierra  son  los  Guaranis, 
Kente  guerrera,  traydora,  y  sobervia,  y  que  ilaman  esclavos  a  todos  los  que  no 
son  de  su  lengua,  con  los  quales  sempre  andavan  en  guerra,  en  la  qual  eran 
muy  sangrietos,  y  crueles,  matandoaquantnspodian,  sin  tomar  hombrea  vida. 
y ...  saileron  grandes  compaiSias,  y  caminando  pnr  tndas  las  tiorras  de  su  nacion, 
que  se  cstenden  mas  de  quinientas  legiias,  llegaron  a  tierra  del  Pirii,  y  despues 
tie  aver  becho  grandes  destruyciones,  se  holvieron  vitoriosos  a  su  naturaleza  : 
PTo  qiiedandose  algunos  en  nquellas  sierras,  hizieron  siempre  grandes  dafios 
—  "  Herrera,  Dec.  iv,  lib.  vill,  cap.  18. 


,      1 


rwrr-^rr 


204 


THE  LIFE  OP  SEBASTIAN  CABOT. 


At  the  sight  of  tlie  strange  people  ascending  their  river,  the 
fierce  savages  raised  their  undaunted  fronts  and  rushed  to 
arms.  Ramirez  gives  no  details  ;  he  only  saj's  that  on  the  first 
day  of  the  year  1528,  the  Spaniards  stopped  at  an  isle,  to  which 
they  gave  the  name  of  New-Year's  from  the  date  of  their  ar- 
rival, and  from  there  Cabot  dispatched  his  Lieutenant,  Michaol 
Rifos,  with  thirty-five  men  to  pacify  and  punish  tlie  tribes 
tliat  thouglit  of  rebelling  against  them,  and  tliat  Rifos  obtained 
a  complete  victory  and  returned  with  great  booty.* 

No  one  will  wonder  that  so  fierce  a  people  should  let  them- 
selves be  so  easily  beaten  by  a  handful  of  ours,  if  he  con- 
.siders  that  the  poor  savages  met  the  enemy  witli  naked 
breasts  and  primitive  arms,  whilst  ours,  besides  being  well 
protected  and  governed  by  sense  and  discipline,  also  carried 
fire-arras.  As  those  arms,  less  by  wounds  and  death  than  hy 
the  noise  and  flash  of  their  discharge,  always  carried  at  first 
into  the  disordered  multitude  of  the  savages  an  impression  of 
invincible  terror,  they  could  not  have  failed  of  their  eflbet  on 
this  fearless  people  who  had  never  before  seen  or  heard  them. 
This  first  experience  of  the  power  of  the  strangers  seems  to 
have  made  them  cautious  of  provoking  a  second.  I  say  smna, 
because  Ramirez  puts  their  defeat  at  the  island  of  New-Year's, 
but  does  not  say  whore  that  was,  and  omits  entirely  fort  San 
Espiritu  which  Cabot  raised  on  the  Parana.  Herrera  gives 
the  fort,  but  omits  New- Year's  and  the  combat.  But  as  the 
Spanish  historian  expresses  it  in  these  words  :  "Sebastian 
Cabot,  after  making  peace  with  the  Gnaranis,  built  the  fort 
of  San  Espiritu  while  it  lasted,"t  it  seems  to  me  that  the 
expression,  fl/y«r  making  peace,  naturally  presupposes  a  war ;  and 
so  interpreting  events  and  localities  in  the  order  that  appears 
to  me  most  natural,  I  have  placed  the  stay  at  New- Year's  im- 


*  "  Continuan  pues  el  viaje  .  .  .  y  llegar  &  la  isla  Afio  nuevo  este  niismo  liia 
1528.  Desdeaqui  mando  el  cap  :  gen  :a  Miquel  Rifos  con  aShombrcsiiaraapiin 
iguar  y  castigar  a  los  tril)ucs  que  tratalmn  de  rebelarse  contra  ellos  .  .  .  Con 
signase  la  completa  victoria,  y  el  rico  botin  que  adquisicron  ..."  Ramirez, 
App.  xxxvii. 

t  "  Aviendo  heclio  Sebastian  Qabotola  paz  con  esta  generacion  (Giinranis) 
mientras  la  pudo  conservar,  fubrlc6  la  poblacion  de  Sanctus  Spiritus  que  dixeroD 
la  fortaleza  de  Gaboto."  Herrera,  Dec.  iii,  lib.  viii,  cap.  xii. 


CHARACTER  OF  THE  NATIVES. 


205 


mediately  before  the  raising  of  the  fort.  It  is  true,  Hcrrcra 
ill  another  place  surrounds  the  raising  of  the  fort  with 
different  circumstances,  but  the  two  sets  of  circumstances  are 
not  incompatible  with  each  other  and  may  very  well  have  oc- 
curred together.  This  other  passage  is  as  follows :  "At 
thirty  leagues'  distance  (from  San  Salvador)  he  came  to 
a  river  called  Zarcarana,  where  he  found  a  people  of  good  in- 
telli'^ence  and  made  another  fort,  which  was  called  Sanctus 
Spiritus,  and  for  another  name  the  fort  of  Gaboto  (Fort  Ca- 
bot)." *  In  my  view,  Cabot,  after  defeating  the  (Juaranis,  and 
forcing  them  to  terms,  resumed  his  advance  by  theEiver,  and 
further  up,  at  the  mouth  of  one  of  the  numerous  atHuents  that 
run  into  the  Parana,  where  the  situation  and  the  population 
seemed  to  him  better  fitted  for  the  establishment  of  a  small 
fort,  lio  stopped  and  built  the  fort  of  San  Espiritu.  The 
Zarciu-ana  was  afterwards  named  the  Tcrcciro  by  the 
Spiiniards.  But  the  reader  must  not,  on  hearing  the  term 
fort,  suppose  it  meant  in  the  usual  sense  :  for  Cabot's  forts  were, 
and  could  be,  only  huts  or  groups  of  huts  more  or  less 
secured  on  all  sides  by  banks  of  dirt,  stones,  wood,  any  thing 
to  prevent  a  sudden  attack  by  the  natives.  This,  wliich  is 
easily  enough  imagined  of  itself,  is  expressly  stated  by  Diego 
Garcia,  in  connection  with  the  very  fort  constructed  at  this 
place. f  He  left  Gregory  Caro  in  command  of  a  snuiU  garri- 
son in  this  fort,  and  continued  his  exploration.;): 

These  garrisons,  small  as  they  were,  for  a  few  men  with  the 
(error  of  their  arms  sufficed  to  keep  the  Indians  in  suspicion 
and  dread,  were  a  constant  and  serious  drain  on  Cal)ot's 
strength  already  much  reduced  ;  but  prudence  demanded  he 
should  secure  his  rear  by  keeping  continually  before  the  eyes 


*  "  A  treynta  leguas  de  catnino  llego  a  iino  rio  que  se  llama  del  Zarrarana, 
liallo  L'C'uto  do  buena  razon,  liizo  otro  fiier^a,  qiu;  so  llnnio  Saiicttis  Spiritus, 
y  por  (itro  nomhru  la  fortalczade  Gaboto."  Ilerrcra,  Dec.  iii,  lib.  ix.cap.  'S. 

f  "  . .  .  cs  esta  casa  una  casa  que  teiiia  bcclia  de  paia  Sebastian  iravoto  que 
la  tenia  por  fortalcza  e  Uamavala  la  fortaleza  de  SauU' Spiritus  ..."  Relaeioii 
y  Durroturo  de  Diego  Garcia.  App.  No.  xxxviii. 

t  The  appoiDtment  of  Caro  and  Grajeda  as  commandants  of  tbc  two  fortb 
win  be  made  clearer  by  documents  later  on. 


-^f 


206 


TUB  LIFE  OF  SEBASTIAN  CABOT. 


I,) 


M. 


It    ,1 


\-^t 


of  the  Indigenes  a  salutary  terror  in  those  little  forts,  and  have 
in  them  a  safe  refuge  in  case  of  misfortune,  and  a  sure  and 
quick  means  of  eonmmnicating  with  his  ships. 

On  occasion  of  the  battle  fought  near  the  island  of  Now- 
Year's,  Ramirez  tells  of  a  custom  of  those  savages  which  do- 
serves  mention.  At  the  death  of  one  of  their  sons,  us  a  mark 
of  the  sad  loss  suffered  in  his  death,  they  cut  ofi"  a  finger  ;  and 
as  often  as  a  new  loss  of  the  kind  occurs  they  make  a  new  am- 
putation  from  their  hand.* 

The  two  banks  of  the  river  which  they  were  ascending  wore 
thickly  peopled  :  this  is  unanimously  attested  by  Raniiiei;, 
Ramusio,  and  Herrera.  But  of  their  customs  and  condition, 
Herrera  only  says  "they  were  a  very  intelligent  p(?o})lc:''f 
and  Ramusio  gets  out  of  it  with  these  few  words  :  "Finding  the 
country  always  beautiful,  with  inhabitants  without  end, 
who  ran  to  see  me  as  a  wonder,  if  Ramirez  seems  to  speak  of 
them  in  more  detail  in  his  narrative,  but  the  abstract  which 
I  have  only  mentions  the  mere  fact.§  Ramirez  also  liints 
at  great  suffering  from  hunger  endured  by  the  Spaniards  from 
scarcity  of  victuals.  || 

On  reaching  the  junction  where  the  Paraguay  and  the  Pa- 
rana unite  their  waters,  Cabot  chose  what  seemed  the  larger, 
and  was  the  Parana  ;  but  when  he  found  it  taking  him  east- 
wards he  suspected  he  might  find  himself  in  Brazil,  a  Portu- 
guese possession,  and  went  back  and  entered  the  Paraguay.  ^ 
The  few  hints  given  by  one  of  Cabot's  interrogatories  on  tho 


•  ".  .  .  la  rare  costiimbre  que  los  Indios  teuiau  de  cortarse  uudedo  a  lamu- 
erte  de  sua  hijos."  Ramirez,  App.  xxxvii. 

f  "Hallo  gente  de  biiena  razon  "  Dec.  iii,  lib.  ix,  cap.  3. 

t  Narrazionie  Viaggi,  T.  1.  fol.  415. 

§  This  abstract  every  now  and  then  says  :  "Habla  luego  de  las  diversas  tribiis 
comarcanas,  siis  costumbrcs,  productas  do  la  tierra  etc."  and  even  in  tliis  placu 
mentions  that  there  is  a  description  of  the  customs  of  the  peoples  tbey  mut. 
Sec  App.  xxxvii. 

I  "Durante  este  viaje  .  .  .  faltaron  liambres  por  la  escasez  de  vivures."     Ih. 

IT  "De  alii  fue  descubriendo  il  rlo  arriba  de  Parana  que  es  el  dc  In  Plata : 
hallo  en  el  rauchas  islas  y  rios  :  y  siguiendo  la  mas  corriente,  al  cabo  de  ducieii 
tas  leguas  Uego  &  otro  rio,  al  qual  llanian  los  Indios  Paraguay,  dexo  el  rio  grandu 
a  mano  derecha,  parcciendole  que  sc  iva  decliaaado  bazia  la  c^sta  del  Bnisil." 
Herrera,  1.  c 


SUFFERING  FROM  FAMINE. 


207 


trial,  joined  with  Ramirez's  narrative,  afford  us  a  glimpse  of  one 
of  the  most  terrible  moments  recorded  in  the  history  of  famine,* 
We  have  already  seen  from  Ramirez  that  before  reaching  the 
mouth  of  the  Paraguay  the  galiot  was  in  great  distress  for 
food  :  the  hope  that  the  longed-for  mountain  which  held  such 
treasures  was  not  far  off,  and  the  trust  that  the  region  further 
on  must  relieve  their  despair,  had  kept  them  up  ;  and  from 
the  very  rage  of  hunger  they  drew  breath  to  increase  their 
labors  for  the  purpose  of  ending  their  sufferings.  But  when 
they  entered  the  Paraguay  things  were  at  the  last  extremity. 
Food  had  given  out  altogether  on  the  galiot,  and  no  appear- 
ance of  relief  of  any  kind  was  apparent  on  either  side  of  the 
river.  They  ate  the  most  unclean  animals,  they  chewed  the 
wildest  plants  :f  many  called  on  God  for  death,  no  longer  able 
to  endure  their  torments  ^  A  sad  event  occurred  to  heighten 
the  horror  of  their  condition.  Having  stopped  the  advance 
of  the  galiot,  Cabot  made  some  of  the  men  land  to  see  if  they 
could  find  in  the  woods  and  the  deserts  of  that  land  something 
to  relieve  their  hunger.  At  evening  they  returned,  all  except 
a  young  boy.  To  comprehend  the  grief  with  which  they 
noted  his  absence,  we  must  remember  the  brotherly  union 
as  of  one  family,  which  exists  betwcenthose  of  the  same  ship, 
especially  in  lands  very  far  from  home  ;  and  remember  that 
they  were  in  entirely  new  regions,  where  the  character  of  the 
inhabitants  and  the  nature  of  the  animals  roaming  in  the 
dense  forests  rising  lofty  and  impenetrable  on  either  bank, 
were  alike  unknown.  Great  liros  were  immediately  lit,  that 
their  brightness  in  the  obscurity  of  night  might  servo  as  a 
beacon  to  the  straggler  :  from  time  to  time  in  the  deep  silence 


*  Th*;  Interrogatory  is  tlie  xxvi,  but  as  it  is  too  long  to  insert  here  entiie  I  give 
ouly  a  little  bit  of  the  witnesses'  liepositioiis.     For  llaiuirez,  see  next  note. 

t  "Lk'gan  por  fiu  a  abocarse  con  el  Paraguay  porelqualseencaminan,  yen 
cl  que  los  trabajos  y  el  humbre  se  diiplicar,  a  causa  de  haberselescoucluidos  por 
(iimpleto  los  viveres,  vicndose  precitados  (i  comer  los  auimales  mas  immuudos 
y  las  plaiitas  mas  agrestes."  Kaniinz,  1.  c. 

t"-  .  .  .  avian  pades(;idoen  cl  caniiiiomuchaliamhre,  edeseavan  todoslamu- 
trte  antes  que  la  vidii  por  queste  testigo  se  la  oyo  demaudar  a  Dios  a  niuchos 
ciellos  por  no  pasar  el  travajo  y  hambrc  que  pasavan. '  VI  witness  to  said  In- 
terrogatory. 


':i:)?i\ 


w 


r 


"I        t 


208 


THE  LIKE  OF  SEBASTIAN  CABOT. 


reigning  over  all  the  land  they  shouted,  discharged  thoir  fire- 
locks, and  guns,  to  warn  the  unfortunate  one  in  which  diai;- 
tiou  were  his  brethren.  But  the  night  passed  without  iiny 
one  appearing.  In  the  morning  Cabot  sent  out  a  bund  ol 
men  who  pushed  through  the  thick  woods,  calling  tluif 
brother,  and  making  the  forest  and  the  mountains  near  ocho 
back  their  shouts  and  the  sound  of  their  fire-arms.  But  even- 
ing came  and  they  went  back  tired  to  the  galiot,  with  no 
trace  of  the  lost  one.  The  next  day  C/abot  sent  the  same  hand, 
which  moved  about  all  day  hunting  and  calling  by  every  pos- 
sible means  ;  but  no  one  was  seen,  no  one  answered.*  Cuhot 
could  not  yet  move  on  and  abandon  that  boy  of  his  ;  ])ut  tlio 
ofhcers  got  around  him  and  begged  and  conjured  hiin  to  do 
so  ;  that  he  had  done  every  thing  possible  to  recover  tliolost 
boy  ;  his  not  answering  so  many  calls  was  a  sure  sign  he 
was  either  dead  or  hidden  in  the  woods  so  deep  that  ho  could 
neither  hear  them  nor  iind  his  way  out ;  perhaps  the  wild 
beasts  had  already  torn  him  in  pieces,  or  surely  would  do  so, 
shut  up  and  lost  in  the  inextricable  maze  of  the  forest ;  let 
him  consider  the  desperate  straits  they  were  all  in,  and  not 
leave  all  to  die  of  starvation  for  the  thin  hope  of  finding  the 
lost  one.  Thei;-  remonstrances  were  only  too  just  and  well- 
founded  :  and  the  galiot  was  ordered  to  proceed  on  her  couvsei 
But  if  they  all  followed  obediently  the  will  of  a  cjiptaiii 
who  led  them  into  such  great  sufferings,  in  their  secret  heart 
many,  and  perhaps  most,  cursed  him,  his  discoveries,  and  the 
mountains  he  pursued  and  which  fled  ever  further  from  them. 
The  interpreter  and  head  of  this  discontent  was 
a  certain  Francis  de  Lepo  who,  cautiously  drop[)injj: 
a  word   about  their  desperate  condition,  and  finding  the 


*  The  fiict  is  narrated  with  groat  detail  in  tlie  second  iiiterrocatury  aiiiiuxcd 
to  Sebastian  Cabot's  proofs.  The  witnesses,  some  of  wliom  were  not  only  pn'seiit 
like  I  lie  rest  at  the  ocfinrrence.hiit  were  part  of  tliose  sent  to  find  tlicir  lost  com- 
rade, confirm  and  add  new  dctiuls  to  Cabot's  account. 

t"  entonyes  los  oflpiales  de  sii  masrestad  dixeron  al  capitan  general  que  sii 
f  nese  por  aue  no  peresgiese  toda  la  gente  porque  si  nlli  estovieranios  todii  hi 
gcnte  se  destniyera  y  muriera  de  bambre."  II  Interrogatory  annexed  to  Ca- 
bot's proofs. 


Execution  of  lepe. 


209 


soil  rendy  for  the  seed,  bep;nn  to  talk  with  some  of  the  most 
trusty  ol"  them  nbout  seizing  the  brigantine  which  followed 
the  gfiliot,  and  going  off  on  their  own  account  where  at  least 
tliey  could  got  something  to  eat.     There  were  with  the  Span- 
iiirdssoine  Indians  l)rought  as  guides  and  interpreters,  and  the 
hunger  they  were  sutfering  from  gave  more  torture  to  these  poor 
ravages,  at'fustomed  to  obtaining  the  little  food  necessary  for 
their  I'rugul  wants  witli  all  case  from  their  fertile  lands,  than 
to  the  Spaniards.      So  that  it  was  not  hard  for  Lepe  to  bring 
over  some  of  them  to  accept  the  charge  of  guiding  the  de- 
sorters  to  where  there  was  plenty  of  food,  whether  they  actually 
knew  where  to  find  it,  or  only  made  promises  in  order  to  escape 
from  present  agony.  The  interrogatory  puts  the  number  of  con- 
spirators at  thirty-five,  one  witness  says  forty,  an  extraordin- 
ary number  considering  the  necessarily  small  number  on  the 
galiot.  But  the  safest  way  is  to  hold  to  what  the  other  wit- 
nesses are  contented  with  saying,  and  call   them  indefinitely 
many.    Among  so  many  it  was  too  difficult  to  preserve  secrecy. 
In  fact  one  Lewis  of  Leon,  a  sailor,  to  whom  it  was  proposed  to 
take  part  in  the  flight,  did  not  refuse,  but  moved,  as  it  seems, 
by  a  strong  sense  of  duty,  disclosed  the  affair  to  the  Chaplain, 
with  whom  he  was  accustomed  to  converse,  and  to  whom  con- 
sequently he  could  tell  it  without  exciting  the  suspicion  of  the 
others,  begging  him,  to  give  immediate  warning  of  it  to  the 
Captain.  Cabot  after  hearing  it,  and  receiving  from  the  sailor's 
own  mouth  more  exact  information,  arrested  Lepe  and  the 
others  named  as  in  the  plot,  and  gave  them  a  brief  trial  : 
the  accomplices  he  punished  in  various  degrees  ;  and  com- 
manded tlie  chief  to  be  hanged  at  once.*  The  wretch  died 
resigned  saying  :  "  As  I  pay  for  all,  I  wish  you  all  a  good  vo}'- 

*  "francisco  de  lepe  y  otros...qnprian  yr  a bnscarde  comer  que  stava alii  uru> 
nilfis  yiuiios  que  yvan  con  ellns  en  >in  vercantin  que  lieran  natnrales  (ie  a 
qiiclla  ticrra  que  Ics  dixo  que  l<>s  llevaria  presto  en  tVrra  donde  hallasen  de  co- 
mireytian  de  villa  fiiente  le  dixo  a  cste  testicc...  e  queste  testigo entonces  lo 
liixoa  nil  capellan  de  la  diclia  armada  que  hera  sii  compaftero  para  que  ledi- 
wscal  diclio  capitan  ceneral.e  quel  dicli"  capitaii  general  le  llamo  e  se  ynformo 
ffeste  (liclio  teBtigo  de  In  que  sabia  e  queste  testicc  le  dixo  lo  que  sabia  e  que 
•lespciuirio  al  dicbe  francisco  de  h']V'  v  a  otros  muchos  e  hizo  su  ynformacion 
yaliorco  al  dicho  francisco  de  lepe,"  VI  wi  m.ss  to  the  xxvi  Interrogatory. 

14 


*      51 


.  %• 


:ii 


frnr 


: '  ? 


210 


THE  LIFE  OF  SEBASTIAN  CABOT. 


''"■.I  .^^ 


ago."*     This  promptness  and  severity  in  puni.siiinjr  ^^j  j^ 
terrifying  ett'ect  on  all  and  none  durst  try  it  again. 

lUit  strong  as  Cabot's  delerniination  was  to  continue  this 
course  in  the  hope  of  soon  finding  some  spot  to  leliovt 
their  hunger,  he  was  forced  to  admit  that  it  was  no  Ion. 
gor  i)ossible  to  trust  to  the  uncertainty  of  hope  witliout  pluf. 
ing  himself  and  all  the  rest  in  great  risk  of  dying  of  luuifrd' 
He  therefore  stopped  the  galiot,  and  sent  back  the  l)ri<riuUiiic, 
as  fast  as  they  could  row,  to  get  victuals  at  some  huts  they  Jmil 
passed  on  their  way.  The  place  was  at  a  good  (hstance,  but 
their  own  necessities  and  the  danger  in  which  they  had  left 
their  conn-ades  added  strength  to  the  rowers,  so  that  tliov 
were  soon  at  the  village.  They  refreshed  themselves,  loadd, 
and  departed  ;  and  the  quickness  with  which  they  returned 
was  marvellous,  f 

Restored  by  the  food  brought  by  the  brigantine,  they  re- 
sumed their  way  with  fresh  vigor  towards  those  {fold 
mountains,  which  seemed  to  grow  ever  more  distant,  but 
whose  existence  received  fresh  and  surer  confirmation. 

Further  on,  they  found  a  population  much  more  numerous 
than  the  others,  of  which  they  had  heard  already  on  their 
way,  and  the  chief  who  ruled  them,  l)y  name  Yaguaron,  wns 
one  of  the  most  powerful  on  that  river.  They  had  been  told 
a  great  deal  in  his  favor,  but  the  reception  he  gave  them  .sur- 
passed their  anticipations:  they  were  treated  with  jj;reiit 
courtesy  and  friendship,  and  furnished  bountifully  with  food, 
They  stayed  there  several  days,  for  the  needed  rest,  and  ffive 
the  place  the  name  of  8anta  Anna.;}:  These  people  were  in 
the  habit  of  wearing  in  their  ears  rings  and    little  plates 


*  "(>yr)  este  diclio  lesligo  ilecir  id  dlcho  francisco  de  lepe  qnando  lo  llevavnii 
aliorcar  que  pues  el  avia  sido  culpado  y  pagava  por  todos  que  dios  dicsu  biipii 
viajo  "  Deposition  of  the  viii  witiit'ss. 

t  "  Para  remediar  taii  nrgeute  neccsidad  mancla  el  capitan  mi  vergantiii  I'ltodn 
reino  en.busoa  (le  bastiincutos  a  uiios  (laserios  bastante  distaiites,  volvieiido  nl 
poco  tienipo  l)ien  provistos."    Ramirez  I.e. 

X  "Con  esto  piidi<Ton  Uegar  a  diclm  pueblo  que  sc  hallaba  rcL'ido  pnruiiimlii) 
principal  llaniado  yaiiuaroti  el  qual  leg  ricibio  niuy  l)ieii  y  lo.s  proveyo  de 
abiindautes  viveres.  En  este  puerto  que  recibi6  el  numbre  de  S.  Ana  estubierou 
alguuos  dias."  Ilamirez,  1.  c. 


,l' 


ENCOUNTKU  WITH  TlIK  AUALES. 


211 


of  gold  and  silver  :  and  tluH  si^dit  was  full  of  comfort 
iiiitl  hope  for  tho  8i)aiiiards.  Not  satisfied  with  ascertaining 
from  tiieiu  where  they  obtain(;d  these  metals,  Cabot  sent 
Francis  da  Puerto  to  the  neif^hboring  populations  to  make  tho 
Hiine  iiHjuiry.  The  inf(jrmation  brouj^ht  back  was  that  about 
seventy  leagues  further  on  there  was  a  people  called  Chan- 
(luk'S.fi'oniwhom  they  got  the  ear-rings  and  plates  in  exchange 
for  other  articles  they  gave  them.  Their  joy  on  hearing  this 
was  increased  on  learning  that  this  people  dwelt  near  the 
cliain  of  mountains  from  which  those  metals  were  dug.  They 
tliuroforo  set  out  again  on  their  way,  panting  for  a  speedy  ter- 
iiiinutiou  of  their  labors,  and  the  fulfilment  of  their  hopes.* 

To  hasten  their  arrival  at  those  longed-for  places,  (!abot 
sent  forward  the  brigantinc  under  the  orders  of  his  Licu- 
tenant-Cleneral,  Michael  Kilos,  to  explore  a  river  called  Nep- 
etin  which  according  to  the  Indians  had  its  source  in  those 
mountains.  The  mission  of  Rifos  had  a  most  unhappy  re- 
sult in  an  encounter  with  a  people  called  the  Agales ; 
but  the  abstract  of  Kamirez  in  its  extreme  brevity  leaves 
us  uncertain  how  it  hap[)ened.  But  as  after  the  encounter 
Cabot  caine  to  a  determination  which  decided  the  future 
of  the  whole  expedition  ;  and  Herrera  also  mentions  a 
battle  after  which  Cabot  nuide  the  decision  which  Ra- 
mirez puts  after  the  encounter  of  Rifo«,  there  can  be  no 
doubt  that  the  combat  related  by  Herrera  must  be  that 
of  Rifos.  This  settled,  with  the  assistance  of  both  writers, 
we  will  put  together,  as  well  as  may  be,  the  last  act  of 
this  most  unfortunate  expedition. 

Herrera  relates  that  at  thirty-four  leagues  from  the  mouth 
of  tlie  Paraguay  they  found  for  the  first  time  a  "laboring  peo- 
ple, "f    Then  all  the  other  populations  hitherto  seen  were  true 

*"...,  y  ronio  vieron  que  los  Indios  Ilevaban  oreyeras  y  pknchas  de  oro 
y  plata,  qiiisierou  saber  de  doiide  lo  traiaii  asi  los  deste  pueblo  conio  los 
lie  (»tro  immediato  a  doiide  si  mandoa  Franco  del  Puerto.  Este  pudo  averiguar 
que  los  chandules,  pueblo  distante  casi  70  leLMias,  se  lo  dabaii  en  canibio  de 
ntros  obietos.  Deterniiiia  el  u-eneral  coatinuar  el  viasre  hasta  Ids  misuios  cliaii- 
ilules,  que  segun  desian  se  liallaban  ccrcaiios  a  la  sierra.  .  ."— Kamirez,  1.  c. 

f  "  . .  .  y  entrundo  per  el  a  las  treynta  y  qiiatro  leguas,  hallQ  geute  Ift- 
biadora,  que  hasta  entonces  no  la  bavia  visto  .  .  .  "—Herrera.  ib, 


212 


THE  LIFE  OF  SKnASTIAN  CABOT. 


children  of  the  fon^Ht,  wlioso  wiiiits  woro  supplied  by  tlip 
iinturiil  fertility  niid  uliuiiduiu'e  of  the  liind,  luid  tlicy  livid 
together  with  that  hroad  lihenility  iiiul  community  of  j^dods 
which  existed  among  the  savages  discovered  hy  Christoidur 
(!oluml)U3,  Hence  perhaps  one  of  the  reasons  why  the 
navigation  along  the  river  had  met  no  other  obstmlcs 
at't(U-  the  comhat  at  the  Island  of  New-Year's,  was  th.it  lhi. 
inhabitants  of  both  banks  accustomed  to  find  ciisily  iiinl 
naturally  in  the  free  [)roducts  of  their  land  whercwilli  id 
satisfy  their  wants,  saw  no  liarm  or  danger  to  their  I'od,! 
and  maintenance  in  the  strangers'  arrival.  But  it  secn^ 
that  the  Agalea  by  the  sweat  of  labor  forced  from  tho  soil 
what  they  recjuired  for  living,  and  therefore  must  have  lind 
very  definite  notions  of  mine  and  thine  :  although  others  took 
no  umbrage  on  seeing  strangers  come  down  on  their  hindiiiul 
carry  off  the  i)roducts  which  the  land  freely  gave  to  all,  n 
very  different  impression  was  received  by  tho  Agalcs  wholiiul 
sweated  to  bring  them  forth.  To  this  we  may  perhaps  add 
that  this  people  very  far  from  the  place  w^here  tho  Spanianls 
had  made  the  Guaranis  feel  the  power  of  their  arms,  knew 
little  or  nothing  of  that  fact,  and  therefore  had  no  rcaHon  to 
stand  in  awe  of  the  foreigners. 

This  was  the  people  among  whi'h  Michael  de  Rifos  arrived 
with  his  brigantine.  The  Spaniards,  feeling  secure  from  tho 
pacific  behavior  of  the  people  hitherto  met,  went  quietly  on, 
and  three  of  them  went  ashore  to  gather  dates,  as  they  hail 
been  in  the  habit  of  doing  without  danger  or  interference  all 
along  the  way.  But  here  they  were  suddenly  attacked  hy 
the  natives  and  all  three  killed.*  So  far  as  appears,  Rifos 
did  not  think  he  o^^ght  to  land  immediately  and  revenue 
this  wrongful  act,  ^M'aenced  by  the  necessity  of  havinji  the 
population  friendlv  in  order  that  they  might  reach  tho 
mountains  and  obtain  the  treasures  they  were  dreaming  of. 
He  therefore  approached  the  main  population  with  signs  of 
good  friendship  ;  and  at  first  he  was  well  received  ;  but  after- 


*  "Y  le  tomaroD  tresque  avian  ydo  a  cortar  paltnitos  para  comer."  Ilerrera, 
Dec.  iii,  lib.  ix,  cap.  3. 


CABOT  TUHN8  BACK. 


213 


wiirds,  as  thoy  feared,  saj's  Ramirez,  to  be  punished  for  the 
sliiugiiter  they  had  done  (  and  lliis  shmghter  I  think  vvaw  of 
the  three  killed  as  told  by  llerrera),  they  treacherously  slew 
Kilos,  witii  some  of  his  men.  At  this  si^ht,  the  rest,  livid 
with  four  and  anguish,  rushed  at  once  to  the  galiot  which, 
owing  to  tlie  peculiar  nature  of  tlio  rivor,  was  following  at  a 
(iislance.  * 

From  the  words  of  Ramirez  it  seems  that  Rifos  had  im- 
prudently landed  with  a  number  of  his  men,  and  they  were 
massacred  whilst  standing  unsuspicious  in  face  of  the  good 
reception  they  met.  But  they  died  not  unavenged,  according 
to  Herrera,  who  says  the  Spaniards  slew  many  of  them.  But 
it  they  had  slain  many  hundreds,  the  slaughter  of  the  enemy 
could  not  compensate  the  loss  of  the  twenty-five  men  they  left 
there.f  Cabot's  entire  strength  on  leaving  Europe  was  200 
men,  to  which  were  afterwards  added  a  few  Christians  found 
at  the  Bay  of  St.  Catharine.  :{:  Now  of  these  men  of  his,  many 
(lied  at  that  bay,  many  in  the  crossing  to  the  Plata,  many  at 
Siin  Lazaro,  many  at  San  Salvador.§  If  the  adjective,  many, 
is  taken  in  the  restricted  sense  of  a  score  or  less,  the  small 
number  becomes  very  large,  taken  in  relation  to  the  whole 
number  of  the  men.  Two  had  been  hanged,  three  deposed  and 
loft  at  the  Isle  of  Patos,  some  remained  with  Grajeda  to  guard 
the  ships  in  the  harbor  of  San  Salvador,  others  were  in 
garrison  with  Gregory  Caro  at  Fort  San  Espiritu.  There  could 


*  "  Tmtaa  de  celebrar  paocs  con  el  pueblo  de  los  agales,  y  al  principio  son 
bieu  recibidos,  pero  como  temieseu  los  ludios  ser  castigados  por  las  nuiertas 
queanie  habian  hecbo,  matan  traidosamente  al  tenieute  del  vergautiii  Mk'utl 
Rifos  con  algunos  suos  volviendo  los  reslantes  Iristes  A  la  galeota,  que  les  ha- 
liiaseiruido  dcsde  lejr)sy  con  difflcultad  por  las  condiciones  especialesdel  liio." 
Ramirez -App.  xxxvii. 

t  "Alii  se  hizieron  tan  grande  lesisteneia  que  no  pudo  passar  adelante,  niato 
miiclioslndios,  y  le  mataron  veyntey  cincoCastedlunos."  Herrera,  Dec.  iii,  lib. 
ix,  cai).  3. 

i  The  reader  may  remember  tbat  Martin  of  Biscay  wbo  was  banged  on  tbe 
Paraim  was  one  of  tbose  taken  along  from  the  Bay  of  St.  Catharine.  However, 
till.'  greater  part  of  tbe  fifteen  Christians  found  tbere  continued  to  remain  in  tbat 
place,  as  will  be  clearly  seen  a  little  further  on. 

§  Not  to  repeat  citations,  the  reader  is  referred  to  what  was  said  iu  Chapters 
XVII  aud  XVIII. 


i    ^ 


s   1 


^1 


214 


THE  LlFfi  OF  SEBASTIAN  CACOt. 


m  ' 


m-. 


'<•  -„__i 


therefore,  only  liave  been  few  wlio  followed  Cabot  on  the  ex- 
ploration of  the  river.  From  these  few,  taking  now  twenty-live 
away,  what  force  iiatl  he  left  to  meet  future  dangers  and  sccuio 
control  of  the  gold  mountains?  Indeed,  he  found  himself  witli 
thegaliot  in  such  danger  from  the  small  nund)or  of  men  at 
his  disposal,  that  he  was  forced  to  release  and  arm  for  tliu 
common  safety  those  he  was  taking  along  as  prisoners  for 
their  complicity  in  Lepe's  plot.'^'  In  addition  to  tliis,  a  nnno' 
was  brought  from  the  river  that  a  Portuguese  tloet  was 
ad  /ancing  by  the  Rio  de  Solis.  f  ITow  was  he  to  face  this  new- 
enemy  ?  It  was  a  fresh  tormen.t  to  his  feelings  to  behold  his 
plans  again  destroyed  ;  and  that,  too,  just  as  he  reached  out 
his  hand  to  pluck  the  palm  of  victory.  But  the  necessity  was 
pressing,  and  no  human  force  could  oppose  it.  And  he  gave 
the  command  to  retreat. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

Diego  Garcia. 

Returning  now  down  the  Parana  we  meet  another  explorer 
coming  up  the  river  on  the  same  exploration  as  Sebastian  Ca- 
bot is  making.  lie  bcdonged  to  a  very  common  class  of  ex- 
plorers abounding  in  the  X\'I  century,  and  but  for  his  eon- 
nection  with  Cabot  history  would  not  probably  take  note  of 
him.  But  he  made  a  narrative  of  his  voyage,  and  speaks  there 
of  Cabot  ;  and  as  his  words  inspired  by  bitter  enmity  towards 

*  "El  (iiclio  capitiiri  Ctilioto  llcvava  prcsos  cnn  crilloa  a  Qiertos  ombrrs  quede 
zian  qde  lieran  en  el  motin  c  qiu;  dcspurs  Ina  solfo  a  causa  que  Ins  yiuiios  li> 
niataron  los  cristianoa  cpio  wan  en  viTirantin."— I  witness  to  the  xxvi  Inter 
muatory  of  Calxn'a  proofs. 

t  "El  desgraciado  csifo  do  csta  espedicioii  y  el  salior  qiic  andnba  nun  nrniini!! 
portunucsa  en  el  rio  Solis  fucnm  motivos  para  que  el  general  detcrmiuase  vnl 
verse  rio  ahajo  hasia  el  Pnnimi." 

Ramirez,  App.  xxxvii. 

"  Alii  penso  en  dar  la  bueltJt." 

Herrert,  Dec.  iii,  lib.  ix,  cap.  3. 


carcia's  expedition. 


215 


him,  were  greedily  pii'ked  uji  l)y  Cabot's  enemies  and  became 
Moody  weapons  against  him,  Ibis  bas  given  a  certain  impor- 
tance to  his  voyage,  and  wherever  Cabot's  work  on  the   Plata 
is  spoken  of  there  is  always  mention  of  this  other  explorer  and 
ottlu'ir  meeting.  Who  he  was,  bow,  and  for  what  purpose  he 
u,i;j  sailing,  was  told  and  jirinted  as  long  ago  as  ]()01  by  Iler- 
reni.    Hi;^  name  was  Diego  Ciarcia,  and  he  is  the  same  person 
iiitiitioned  in  our   XVI  chapter  as  a  braggart  and  coxcomb. 
lie  was  born  at   Moguer,  a  little  Spanish  city  on  the  Tinto  a 
short  distance  from    Palos,   whence    Christopher    Columbus 
fiiilod  on  his  tirst  discovery,  and  he  was  sailing  for  the  account 
ot'a  modest  Spanish  company.-    lUit  in  spite  of  this  o})cn  and 
decided  declaration,  Charlevoix  lias  built  a  story  all  i:ivention 
from  the  bottom  up.      He  has  made  of  Diego  (iarcia  a  Portu- 
<,'ueso  general,  and  says  he  was  in    Brazil,  a  possession  of  the 
crown  of  Portugal  ;  that  as  soon  as  lie  knew  of  Sebastian  Ca- 
hot's  voyage  up  the    Plata,  apprehensive  for  the  neighboring 
possessions  of  his  country,  lie  hurried  across  the  provinces  of 
Brazil  to  cut  ofl'  his  road.    But  Cabot,   learning  of  his  ad- 
vance,   quickly    got     bis     men     together     and     descended 
the  river   in    all    lias.e,    to    ])ut    hims.'lf    in    safety.      And 
all  tills   he   embellishes  with   a    svrics    of  bold    deeds    and 
adventures  as  strange  and  surprising  as  in  a  regular  sensa- 
tional lomance.f     It  is  incomjn'elunsible  how  Charlevoix, 
pretending  to  write  history,  could  believe  or  invent  such  tales 
when  he  had  his  way  clearly  marked  out  in    Ilerrera.      His 
error  was  the  cause,  I  believe,  of  even  the  way  Biddle  made 
a  false  step  or  two;  for  he  likewise  makes  Carcia  a  Portu- 
Kuene,  in  spite  of  Herrera's  distinct  assertion.    But  if  he  errs  in 
this,  in  all  else  he  adheres  to  the  Spanish  historian's  account. 
Hut  acute  as  lie  was  in  dissecting  every  fpicstion  that  undertook 
to  treat  of  Cabot,  having  no  aid  from  any  documents  that 
fould  throw  any  light   on  the  obscurity  of  this  exploration, 
as  he  saw  the  figure  of  Diego  Carcia,  appearing  like  a  vision 
now  and  then  ;  ho  fixed  his  ga/.e  on  that  and  thouglit  of  it  till 


♦This  will  be  reported  to  bcticr  ndviu)tiv.;c  t\  littl<?  later. 

fCliarlcvoix,  Ilhtrdrc  iht  Piirar/iiai/.  Liv.  i,  p.  26.i;t  siiiv.— Paris,  MDCCLVI. 


i^^' 


v.;-J    t 


l""A 


M- 


216 


THE  LIFE  OP  SEBASTIAN  CABOT. 


he  seemed  to  st>e  in  it  something  mysterious.  And  with  this 
notion,  starting  from  the  point  that  he  was  a  Portuguese,  liu 
whets  his  ingenuity  by  accumulating  argument  upon  argu- 
ment  to  convince  the  reader  tliat  Diego  Garcia  was  an  agent 
of  Portugal  sent  to  follow  Cabot,  to  watch  his  course,  to  aid  tlie 
rebels  in  the  expedition  in  their  work,  if  necessary,  and  il'oc- 
casion  offered,  even  take  the  command  of  it  in  order  to 
divert  it  from  the  Moluccas  and  keep  it  on  the  American 
coast.*  And  his  reasoning  is  so  close  and  strong  as  easily  to 
convince  the  reader  who  has  no  other  source  of  inforniatiou. 
Instead  of  stopping  to  refute  Biddle's  reasoning,  since  new  ar- 
guments have  stripped  the  figure  of  Garcia  of  its  mysterious 
appearance,  and  reduced  it  to  its  very  poor  proportions,  we 
shall  only  remark  that  Diego  Garcia  sailed  from  Spain  more 
than  five  months  after  Cabot,  and  at  such  an  interval  betw"';i. 
them  he  surely  could  not  have  been  sent  to  help  the  r-^'j' 

We  are  able  to  complete  the  imperfect  information  given 
by  Herrera  with  Garcia's  own  narrative,  an  authenticated  coj)}' 
of  which  we  have  before  our  eyes.  Although  defective 
in  many  places,  in  the  part  which  we  are  concerned  with  it  is 
almost  entire,  and  enables  us  to  follow  with  security  the  course 
of  his  navigation. 

Some  Spanish  gentlemen,  with  Don  Ferdinand  do  Andrada 
at  their  head,  formed  an  association  for  the  exploration  of  the 
river  discovered  by  John  Diaz  de  Solis,  and  api)lied  to 
the  government  for  the  necessary  approval.  This  was  given, 
with  an  obligation  annexed  that  the  expedition  should  also  go 
in  search  of  John  Cartagena  and  the  French  priest  whom  Fer- 
dinand Magellan  had  deposed  and  abandoned  at  the  strait 
which  afterwards  took  his  name.f  Diego  Garcia  was  placed  at 
the  head  of  this  expedition. 

*  "  This  expt'(lition,  under  the  command  of  the  Porlugnese,  was  hastily  got 
up  to  watcii  Ilia  movements,  and  prnhahly  to  act  in  concert  with  the  disnf 
fecled,  with  an  understanding  hs  to  certain  points  of  rendezvous  in  casu  tlie 
mutineers  should  train   the  nifisterv  .  .  .  ."—Lib.  i,  onp.  xvii,  p.  128. 

t  "El  conde  D.  Hernando  de  Andnida  y  otros  se  ofrecieron  de  liaccr  mia 
armada,  y  emhiarla  a  la  parte  del  Mar  Oceano  Meridional.  ...  en  la  parte  que 
dezian  el  Rio  d<!  la  Plata  y  aviendo  capituhuio  con  el  rey,  se  cdncertanm  que 
Ilevasse  a  su  cargo  esta  armada  Diego  Garcia,  vezino  de  la  villa  de  Monguer, 


■■•rVt'T™'"- 


GARCIA  S  EXPEDITION. 


217 


The  expedition  sailed  from  the  port  of  Corunna,  where 
it  was  fitted  out  ;  left  Cape  Finisterre,  according  to  Garcia'w 
narrative,  on  the  lOth  of  January,  1526;  according  to  Herrera's 
liistory  the  15th  of  August  of  that  year.*  The  difference  he- 
tween  the  two  dates  is  enormous,  and  the  preference 
would  naturally  be  given  to  Garcia's  authority.  But  as  Diego 
Garcia  sailed  from  Corunna  to  the  Canaries  to  victual  his 
vessels,  and  sailed  from  the  Canaries  according  to  his  own  ac- 
count and  Herrera's  on  the  1st  of  September,  it  seems  rather 
(litiicult  to  believe  that  he  was  seven  months  and  a  half 
taking  in  provisions.  Consequently,  I  am  inclined  to  think 
that  in  Garcia's  narrative  there  is  a  mistake  in  the  name  of 
the  month,  and  prefer  Herrera's  date,  as  he  had  other  docu- 
ments by  which  he  might  have  corrected  any  error  in  the 
narrative.  In  mentioning  his  departure  from  the  Canaries 
on  the  first  of  September,  Garcia  calls  attention  to  his  wisdom 
in  choosing  a  season  for  sailing  to  the  southern  lands  of  the 
New  World,  and  contrasts  with  his  vaunted  knowledge  the 
ignorance  of  Sebastian  Cabot,  who  with  all  his  astrology  did 
not  know  the  difference  of  time  in  the  course  of  the  seasons 
there  and  in  the  New  World,  and  consequently  did  not  know 
enough  to  choose  the  proper  season  for  sailing  to  those  parts,  f 
We  have  already  seen  in  its  proper  place  how  unjust  and 
uncalled-for  tliis  charge  against  Cabot  is,  and  how   foolish 


cm  tl  qiuil  se  hizieron  cicrtos  capitulos entre  Ins  qiiales  fiie  ....  que 

. . .  pmciimsse  por  todas  las  vias  possibles  de  buscar  a  Ivan  de  Carta<rt'ua,  y 

'■  derico  Frances,  que  eu  su  conipaiiia  dexo  Hernando  de  Magal lanes." — 
•m,  Dec  iii,  lib.  x,  cap.  i. 
' "   ali  de  la  conifia  que  alii  me  fne  entrecada  la  avniada  por  los  oficiales  de 
'  .leestad  que  fue  de  mil  e  quinieiitos  e  veyiite  e  seys  a  quinzc  de  enero  del 

ail  p. -ti  del  Cabi>  de  Finisterre.' 
Macion  de  Diego  Oarcia. 
"Partio  Diego  Garcia  ....  a  qnime  de  agoitto  de  este  aflo  (1526)  del  Cabo  de 

Finisterre y.  .  .  .salio  de  las  Canarias  a  primero  de  Betiembre."  Herrera, 

I'ir.  iii,  lib.  x,  cap.  i. 
t"  .  .  .  nos  partimos  en  primero  d<'  setiembre  del  dicbo  ailo  porque  entonces 

psta  el  sol  en  calma  a  treze  de  setiembre  porque  va  a  liacer  verano  en  la  parte 

que  niia  y  vamos  a  desoubrir  .  .  .  y  estiv  naveuacion  no  supo  tomar  Sebastian  ga- 

bot'  eon  toda  su  astrulucia  tomo  lacontraria  conio  ombre  que  no.  .  .  .  nada." 

-From  the  Narrative  of  Diego  Garcia— App.  No.  xxxviii. 


RRP^"^ 


^TT 


'■■;    t; 


■■■■     :    B 

■    •            i 

■'?  ■ '  i 

: 

-  i 

Hi 

■il 

il. 
i. 

t 

i 

H 

1, , 

Bi 

l' 

H 

H 

"■';tW 

218 


THE  LlFE  OF  SEHASTIAX  CAHOT. 


and  false  was   riarcia's  boast  of  liis  wisdom;  and  it  is  not 
necessary  to  add  any  tliin;jj  hero.* 

From  tlie  Canaries  lie  passed  over  to  the  Capo  ^"er(lc  Isl- 
ands, Avhere  he  took  on  more  provisions;t  and  from  there  lie 
sailed  towards  Cape  St.  Augustine.;}:  Here  he  boasts  a^rain  of  his 
ability  in  overcoming  the  currents  which  are  met  in  that  cross- 
ing, and  derides  the  ignorance  of  Cabot  who  did  not  kmiw 
enough  to  do  the  .same.§  But,  as  wo  remarked  in  anotlier 
place,  he  does  not  tell  us  how  or  in  what  Cabot  was  at  fault; 
he  derides  and  passes  on.||  From  Cape  8t.  Augustine  Iw 
sailed  to  Cape  Frio,  thence  to  the  Bay  of  St.  Vincent,  and 
theiice  to  the  Plata.^[ 

On  arriving  at  the  Plata,  ho  stopped  his  sbipsatits  mouth, 
anc  -nUj'ng  together  the  brigantine  which  he  took  aloiiif  in 
piece!-.  Segan  with  that  to  go  up  the  river,  and  so  came  to 
the  harUL,  of  San  Salvador  wliore  Sebastian  Cabot's  shijis  were. 
Anthony  Grajeda,  who  was  guarding  them,  at  the  sight  of  the 
brigantine,  thought  it  was  Rojas  and  Rodas  and  Martin  Meii- 
doz  who  were  coming  with  sinister  intentions,  and  with  some 
canoes  and  an  armed  boat  advanced  boldly  against  him  ;  and 
they  were  on  the  p'^'int  of  battle  when  Garcia  recogm' zing  Gra- 
jeda, was  aware  that  they  were  Sel)astian  Cabot's  men,  and, 
making  himself  known  in  turn,  animosity  and  fear  ceased  on 
either  side.** 


*  Sec  ell.  xvi. 

t  ".  .  .  .  tomamos  la  dcrrota  delas  ishis  (ie  cabo  vcrde  .  .  .  y  alii  tomamos 
niiiclio  llufresco  .  .  .  dc  t'idas  las  cosas  que  uvlmos  menpster  ...  — "  Ihidem. 

X  "Dcsta  ysla  de  buena  vista  hfrimos  vela eu  la  bueltay  demandadelcaliode 
sail  a.^ostin."— II). 

S  ".  .  .e.stecaminose  liaiian-ivegar  con  prande  resguardoy  saber  de  marinciiu 
puniue  ay  grandes  conientes  que  suleii  delos  rrios  dc  guiticu  que  almten  los 
navios  iila  vaiida  del  uiiruester  que  van  coirientes  ii  las  yndiasde  castillaeslas 
(!on ientes  nn  supn  tomar  Sebastian  caboto  porque  no  era  marinero  iiy  siiliii 
iiavcgar." — lb. 

II  See  cb.  xvi.  * " ~~  ^  J!j 

**"I']n  las  islasde  las  Picdras  sur!xi(!ron  y  rtrmaron  el  bergantin  que  ilev.ivnn 
en  pi('f;us,con  el  qiial  ftieron  el  v\n  anilia  ...  y  ...  vieron  dos  nai)S  de  Hclmstian 
Gaboto,  cujo  Teniente  era  Anton  de  Grajeda,  que  salio  con  ciertas  canons,  y 
iin  batel  armados,  pcnsaiido  quecian  los  dos  bermanos  Rojasy  Martin  Mi'ndw 

que  ivan  contra  el liasta  que  Anton  de  Grajeda  fne  conocido  dc  Dim 

Garcia,  yvan  tomando  las  armaspara  llegar  a  las  manos  ;  y  al  cabo  conocicroii, 
que  era  el  armada  de  Sebastian  Gaboto  .  .  ."  — Herrera,  ilddem. 


GATlCiA  JOINS  r.llA.IEDA, 


210 


Grajeda  gave  Garcia  a  tbstivo  reception  and  told  him  tlie  good 
news  ho  had  just  received  of  a  great  victory  gained  hy  Cahot 
over  tlio  Indians  with  the  death  of  more  than  four  hundred 
of  the  latter.*  After  this  Diego  (xareia  returned  to  his  ships, 
and  exchanged  his  largest  ship  for  the  hrigantinc  of  a  Port- 


iijjuose. 


I  must  pause  here  to  discuss  the  hargain  at  some  length.  To 
the  reader  it  may  ai)pear  altogether  useless  and  perhaps  a 
,stuml)ling-stone  in  tlie  narrative  ;  hut  it  is  not  so  :  I  rather  ask 
the  reader  to  give  it  his  attention,  for  further  on  we  shall 
have  occasion  to  recall  it,  and  it  will  aid  us  if  we  have  the 
fact  well  present. 

Diego  Garcia's  narrative  from  his  sailing  out  of  Corunna 
harbor  to  his  arrival  at  the  Day  of  St.  Vincent,  except  the 
two  places  whore  he  lays  hold  of  Cahot,  contains  merely  the 
distances  of  the  course  sailed  over,  and  the  geographical  posi- 
tion of  the  diH'erent  places,  with  special  mention  of  those 
where  he  renewed  his  supplies,  and  such  as  it  is  so  far,  it 
will  continue  to  the  end.  Only  at  the  Bay  of  St.  Vincent  he 
stops  to  tell  something  else.  On  this  hay,  which  is  in  the  13th 
degree  of  South  Latitude,  had  lived  for  thirty  years  a  Port- 
iii,mese  bachelor  and  he  hatl  his  son-in-law  with  )iiin. 
Their  occupation  was  hunting  Indians  and  sending  them  to 
Europe  to  be  sold  for  slaves.  Diego  Garcia  landed  on  this  bay  to 
get  fresh  provisions  for  his  ships,  and  remained  here  till  the 
15th  of  January  of  the  following  j'ear,  1527. f  As  was  natural, 


Ilerrera  almost  always  speuk-  of  Dii'L'o  Giniia's  voj-ngi'  in  Ilio  very  words 
of  ilie  hitter's  iiarnitive  ;  and  tli(?refori?  instead  of  qiiotinff  directly  from  tlie 
nnrriitivc,  I  quote  from  Ilerrera,  becuiise  in  the  narnitive  as  it  lias  readied  lis 
thi'io  lire  many  gaps. 

"...  nos  hizo  mnclia  onrra  dio  nos  rmevii  do  m  capitan  goncral  e  como 
aqueldia  avia  visto  una  carta  Ruva  en  la  qti;il  le  avisaba  oonio  avia  mnerto 
niiis  do  quatrociento  Yndios  e  que  ihn  con  uvan  victoria  per  el  Rio  nrrilm 
liiicif'ndo  giierra  a  los  yndios."— Diejo  Oircin's  narrntive. 

t  "•  .  .  .  de  nqni  fnemos  ndcbmle  e  nllcijamos  al  calio  de  snnt'  Asrnstin  e 
t"me  my  navegncion  la  buelt'i  del  cnbo  frio.  .  .  .e  de  nqiii  fiiemos  a  tomar 
"efresco  en  snn  Vicente  que  esta  en  xiii  ltkIos  .... 

"  •  .  .  .  alii  estiiviinos  linsta  qninze  de  enero  del  afSo  sycniente  de  xxvJi 
e  aqui  tomamos  rmiclio  refresco  de  came  e  pescado  delaa  vituallas  de  la 


'^  j.  :■ 


.-I  1 

ii 


;•-« 


220 


THE  LIB'E  OF  SEBASTIAN  CABOT. 


n, 


while  here  he  saw  and  became  acquainted  with  the  Portuguese 
bachelor  and  his  son-in-law,  and  had  many  opportunitiis  of 
talking  with  them.  In  these  conversations  they  came  to  a 
profitable  agreement.  The  Portuguese  had  on  hand  a  fine 
supply  of  800  slaves,  but  the  harvest  was  useless  to  hini  for 
want  of  the  means  of  sending  them  to  market  to  Eurojjc. 
The  big  ship  of  100  tons  which  carried  Diego  Garcia  suited 
his  purpose  and  he  offered  to  buy  it.  Diego  accepted  the  offer 
and  the  bargain  was  made.  In  place  of  the  ship  he  sold 
Garcia  bought  a  brigantine  from  the  son-in-law  of  tlie  Port- 
uguese. 

To  Diego  himself  the  contract  must  have  seemed  atrocious, 
for  he  takes  over  a  page  and  a  half  of  folio  to  discuss  it  and 
argue  that  he  had  not  done  wrong.  His  reasoning  is,  that 
the  ship  on  account  of  her  size  was  wholly  unsuited  for  the 
exploration  he  was  to  make  of  a  river,  and  that  he  had  pre- 
viously told  Don  Ferdinand  de  Andrada  and  his  partners  so 
in  Spain,  and  that  they  only  intended  to  have  her  laden  with 
slaves;  and  he  did  so  because  they  violated  His  Majesty's  orders 
concerning  the  conditions  his  fleet  was  to  have,  and  did  not 
keep  the  agreements  made  and  signed  with  him;  and  that  he 
had  the  consent  and  approval  of  all  his  officers  for  tlie  ex- 
change of  liis  largest  ship  for  the  brigantine.*  But,  either  there 
was  not  this  approval,  or  if  there  was,  the  enormity  of  the  act 
seemed  to  him  and  his  accomplices  to  render  it  necessary  to 
find  some  pretext  to  color  the  wicked  bargain  in  the  eyes  of 
their  men.  For  it  was  determined  that  Garcia  should  sail  on 
the  large  ship  as  far  as  the  mouth  of  the  Plata,  and  the  brigan- 
tine should  join  him  there  and  make  the  exchange.     Why 


tierra  pani  provision  de  nuestra  nave  e  acqua  e  lefia  e  todo  lo  que  nvimos 
meiiester."  lb. 

*  " este  bachiller  con  sus  yernos  hizieron  con  migo  una  cnrtii  (If  flete 

....para  que  la  triiycBe  en  esptina  con  la  nao  grande  oclocienins  escliivnse 
yo  la  hize  con  acuerdo  de  todos  niya  oflciales.  .  .que  allegiuido  en  el  Hin  man- 
daremns  la  nao,  porque  la.  .  .  .no  podia  entrar  en  el  rrio  poiqtie  niuehas  vecies 

le  dijo  al  contador  Don  Fernando  e  &los  factores que  aqiielln  nao  no  p<Hliii 

entrar  en  el  rrio  que  licni  muv  <.Ti'ide  y  ellos  no  quisieron  syno  hacirmela  !!«• 
var  carcada  con  esclavos  e  asy  lo  hize  e  asy  la  mando  carsrada  de  e8(,lavos  por- 
que ellos  no  hizioron  ny  me  dinron  la  armada  qne  sn  raagestad  mandd  que  me 
diessea  lo  que  cou  ellos  yo  tenia  capituladu. .  ."—lb. 


que  nvimos 


GARCIA  S  SALE  OF  HIS  LARGEST  SHIP. 


221 


this  delay  in  exchanging?  At  first  sight  it  might  appear  to  be 
because  the  ship  was  excelk'iitly  adapted  for  Ocean  naviga- 
tion and  could  not  be  used  for  that  of  the  Plata;  but  Ilerrcu-a's 
words  give  us  to  understand  otherwise.  He  says  that  Diego 
Garcia,  when  he  reached  the  nioutli  of  the  Plata  and  had 
I'one  up  the  river  some  leagues  with  a  brigantino,  coming 
back  to  his  ships,  "determined  to  exchange  the  largest  below 
the  river,  saying  that  it  was  in  great  danger  from  the  squalls 
wliich  occurred  at  that  season,  making  that  a  jwetcxt  for  profit- 
ing by  the  freight,  which  the  Portuguese  bachelor  liad  paid 
liini  for  the  transport  of  the  800  slaves  that  he  had  agreed  with 
liiin  to  carry  to  Portugal:  and  to  give  color  to  this  wpidity,  he 
.siiid  that  he  had  protested  to  Count  Ferdinand  de  Andrada 
that  this  ship  should  not  have  been  given  him,  because  it  was 
very  large  and  of  no  use  for  the  navigation  and  discovery  of 
the  Rio  de  la  Plata,  and  not  according  to  the  agi  ^  ement  with 
the  king;  and  so  the  ship  was  then  taken  to  the  port  of  St.  Vin- 
cent to  take  on  the  slaves."  *  Then  the  men  of  the  expedition 
would  know  nothing  of  the  bargaiii  concluded  at  St.  Vincent, 
if  the  squalls  which  they  met  on  entering  the  Plata  were  put 
forward  as  the  reason  for  the  exchange.  And  see  how  all  the 
circumstances  unite  to  prove  the  fraud  and  artifice  of  Diego 
Garcia's  conduct.  Cabot  on  arriving  at  the  Plata  entered  it  at 
once  with  all  his  ships:  Garcia  ascended  it  with  a  brigantine 
for  about  thirty  leagues  for  a  trial.  Why  ?  In  order  that 
on  his  return  he  might  be  able  to  say  that  the  large  ship 
would  be  in  great  danger  in  that  navigation,  and  it  was  nec- 
essary to  make  an  exchange.  It  had  been  settled  at  St.  Vin- 
cent that  the  exchange  should  be  made  for  a  brigantine,  but 
some  excuse  was  reciuired  for  the  opportune  presence  of  the 


*"  Bnlviose  Dieiro  Garcia  n  sus  naos  y  determino  de  emhiiir  la  mayor  fiicni 
del  rio,  diziendo  que  esiava  en  cran  peligro  de  l.is  Giinipiuiaa,  que  en  iiqiiel 
tienipo  aviii:  tomamiolo  pnr  ocasion  paraiiproveelinrse  dt'l  flete,que  \v.  iivi;i  tie 
piigiir  L'l  Baehillcr  Portugues  por  el  porte  de  ochocientos  escl.ivos,  qiKf  avia 
conceitado  de  iraerle  a  Porluiial:  y  para  dar  color  a  esia  codicia  dixo  que  avia 
piotestiido  al  C'liniie  «ion  FcriiHiido  de  Andrada  qtie  no  le  diesse  esta  nave, 
piinpie  era  muy  grande  e  iniitil  para  la  naveeacion,  y  (iescultrimienlo  del 
rio  de  la  Plata,  y  contra  lo  capitulado  con  el  Rey  ;  y  at-si  He  fuu  luego  la  nao 
al  puerto  de  San  Viceute  a  curgar  los  esclavos."— Herrera,  1.  c. 


.   '    ■*' 


■    ■  \ 

H  4 


222 

^  ^d  ^ 


THE  LIFE  OF  SEIJASTIAN  CABOT. 


i!:!!   ■ 


brigantino  without  exciting  suspicion.  And  a  pretext  wag 
found  in  the  bachelor's  son-in-hiw,  whom  Diego  Garcia  said  Ik. 
was  taking  as  inter})reter  on  his  voyage,  lleally,  any  one 
tliat  retiects  on  it  must  tiiink  it  very  odd  to  take  an  interpreter 
at  St.  Vincent  for  wholly  new  countries  twenty-one  dej^rue, 
further  south.  But  a  captain's  authority  can  make  very  un- 
reasonable things  pass  for  probable.  It  was  therefore  settled 
that  this  son-in-law  should  go  with  them  as  interpreter,  and 
should  join  them  with  a  brigantino  at  the  mouth  of  the  Plata, 
'I'here  might  bo  a  good  deal  said  on  this  point  too  ;  for  it  is 
rather  strange  that  the  interju'oter,  instead  of  going  atonccon 
board  of  the  ships  with  them,, should  make  a  voyage  by  liim- 
self  of  twenty-one  degrees  to  join  them.  But  as  we  know  not 
how  the  matter  was  colored,  it  only  remains  for  us  to  mention 
it,  and  pass  on.  Lo  !  now,  all  seems  chance  and  luck.  The 
squalls,  the  too  large  ship,  the  brigantino  providentially  ar- 
riving in  the  nick  of  time,  and  so  the  exchange  nuist ap- 
pear to  everybody  fair  and  reasonable. 

The  exchange  made,  Diego  Garcia  took  all  his  ships  to tlio 
spot  where  Cabot's  were,  and  anchored  alongside  of  tliein. 
Then  with  two  brigantines  and  sixty  men  he  proceeded  tow- 
ards the  Parana  ;  and  so  he  came  to  Fort  San  Espiiitu,  wliieh 
was,  as  has  been  said,  merely  a  house  thatched  with  straw  and 
put  as  far  as  possible  in  a  state  of  defence  under  the  ordensof 
Captain  Gregory  Caro.  Diego  Garcia  had  been  very  friendly 
with  Grajeda  at  Fort  San  Salvador,  seeing  him  with  two  ships, 
and  a  considerable  armed  force  ;  but  when  he  saw  what  a  mean 
hut  Fort  San  ICspiritu  was,  and  how  few  men  were  there  on 
guard,  he  assumed  the  tone  and  airs  of  a  con(|ueror,  and  sum- 
moned Caro  to  give  up  the  fort  to  him,  saying  that  the  explor- 
ation of  the  River  do  La  Plata  had  been  entrusted  to  him.  Caro. 
as  a  frank  and  loyal  officer,  answered  "that  he  held  the  place 
in  the  name  of  his  Majesty  and  Cabot ;  but  in  all  else  was 
ready  to  do  him  any  service  in  his  power."  This  resolute  an- 
swer silenced  at  once  Garcia's  arrogance.*    Coming  thus  intu 


*"IIanani(>s  alii  uii  frreiioiio  euro  e  If  riHUnriiiins  que  se  fiiese  de  ;iiiiiiilM 
pouquistii  porquc  uo  htru  suja,  eel  uos  Respouilio  may  biuu,  dijo  que  toiiolu 


GARCIA  AT  HAN  EHI'IHITU. 


223 


friendly  relations,  Caro  told  Garcia  there  was  a  rumor  aiiioug 
the  Indians  that  Cahot,  who  was  a  good  way  up  the  river, 
liiid  met  with  a  severe  defeat  by  the  Indians,  with  the  loss 
of  many  of  his  men,  and  tlierefore  if  Garcia  continued  on  u}) 
the  river  he  begged  him  to  ransom  the  Spaniards  he  should 
lind  captured  by  the  natives,  and  he  would  repay  the  price  of 
tiieir  ransom  ;  and,  if  he  found  that  Sebastian  Cabot  was  dead, 
not  to  abandon  him  in  that  place.* 

Now  see  the  boast  Garcia  durst  make  of  his  navigation 
from  Fort  San  Espiritu  to  Port  St.  Ann  !  We  are  in  that  long 
tnict  of  the  river  in  which  is  the  island  of  New- Year's,  where 
Ciibot  was  obliged  to  stop,  to  fall  upon  the  Indians,  who 
were  either  muttering  rebellion  or  had  already  revolted,  in  his 
rear.  Cabot  would  naturally  ascend  the  river  step  by  step,  be- 
cause the  road  was  altogether  new,  and  it  was  therefore  neces- 
sary to  examine  every  spot,  treat  with  the  Indians,  quiet  their 
suspicion,  gain  their  aifection,  awe  them  or  fight  them,  as  the 
ca.se  nuglit  require  ;  all  this  must  needs  consume  much  time. 
Garcia,  on  the  contrary,  had  the  way  already  o[)ened,  the  river 
safe,  because  already  examined  by  Cabot's  ships,  no  danger 
from  the  inhabitants,  becauxe  they  were  held  in  awe  by  Cabot's 
forts  and  the  memory  of  his  weapons  ;  so  that  (Jarcia  could 
move  with  safety  and  at  his  ease.  With  all  this  dillerence  in 
circumstances  Diego  Garcia  has  the  boldness  to  brag  that  he 
travelled  in  only  27  days  over  what  took  Cabot  five  months.f 


nk'decia  e  que  siuviin  en  nqiicllu  casi  por  mi  ii.ML'cstail  c  pnr  stfbaslian  gavoto 
e  que  fstiva  a  mi  servicio."    Dic-o  Garcia's  iiarrMtive. 

♦"udiD  nos  nuevas  di;  sii  cnpituii  que  k-  liahiaM  dklio  los  yndios  como  el 
capitaii  sebaslian  iravoto  heia  aniba  dcsl)arafad()  e  miicrto  miicha  trent((y  que 
merini;avaquesial!,'uuoliall:iso  por  ariuella  parte  donde  yva  dc'scul.rioiido  que 
1"  U.  scatasu  qu.;  el  nie  pa-aria  d  Resirate  e  que  se  eiiconiciidaba  nd  nierrcd 
qufsy  fiiese  su  capital!  muertnque  no  lo  dejaw  en  <•!   Rio  quo  lo  sacase"— H). 

Iltirera  liy  nn  oversiL'lit  lins  cIi!iML"'d  Sebastiati  Cabot's  rmii  into  a  victory  : 
-  q'lu'  SI  sui)ie.sse  pore!  rio,  procums-ie  do  resratail'>*  Cut  11  inos  que  liall>i.s'<e 
"■'■SOS,  porque  aunquesabia  que  Sebastian  Gaboto  avia  desbaratado  lo.s  Indios, 
'■ni  impossihle  que  no  Imvicssen  iieliirrado  nl!,'nMos  ;  y  quo  el  pasrariael  roseate, 
V  qiie  si  liallasso  niuerto  a  Sebastian  Guboto,  le  rogava  que  no  lo  dexasse  alii 
-•"  Die.  iii,  lib.  x.  rap.  i.  ..  ..._-^ 

t  "Do  alii mc parli  vitrnes  Santo  por la  iiianana y  en  veiiite  esiete  dias anduve 
tanto  quauto  anduvo  sebastiau  caboto  en  cinco  meses."     t'rom  his  narrative. 


■A; 


■1 '  ^ 

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F- 

J '-' 

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I  •.A .   *  ■ 

1.!    ■]■     . 


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Mn« 

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Bl 

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''^  ■■.  1 

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(      . 

224 


THE  LIFE  OF  SEBASTIAN  CABOT. 


There  is  nothing  surprising  in  such  a  stupid  boast  crnnine 
from  a  conceited  l>riiggart  like  Diego  Garcia  ;  what  surprisos 
us  is  that  a  grave  historian  like  Ilerrera  should  pick  upcvtn 
this  stone  to  throw  at  C'abot.  * 

A  hundred  leagues  beyond  the  fort  of  San  Espintii,  Djr.ro 
Garcia  joined  Sebastian  Cabot  at  the  port  of  St.  Ann,  wliich, 
as  set  down  by  Garcia  himself,  is  in  28°  South  L;ititu(lc.+ 
Besides  the  testimony  we  have  seen  from  Ramirez,  Diego  flm- 
cia's  own  narrative,  although  very  worn  in  this  pbiee,  shows 
that  Cabot's  defeat  occurred  higher  up. :{:  We  must  then  sup- 
pose that  Cabot  retreated  to  St.  Ann  after  his  loss,  to  recnpemtc 
under  the  friendsbip  of  the  good  Prince  Yiiguaron. 

Of  his  meeting  with  Sebastian  Cabot,  Garcia  does  not  pivi' 
one  word,  but  Ramirez  has  something  on  the  subject.  Tlic 
Portuguese  fleet  which  was  rumored  among  the  Indigenes  to 
be  coming  up  the  River  de  Solis,  the  report  of  which  had  boon 
one  of  the  causes  of  Cabot's  retiring,  turned  out  to  bo  only 
Diego  Garcia's  brigantine.  The  doubt  and  alarm  were  qniekly 
turned  to  joy  when  they  saw  their  brethren,  and  it  was  at  once 
proposed  that  they  should  unite,  and  with  abundant  supplies 
ascend  the  river  :  but  for  whatever  reason,  the  good  intention 
was  not  carried  out;  and  the  two  captains,  separating,  followed 
each  his  own  course  on  returnin.g.g 

'  Cabot,  on  arriving  at  Port  San  Salvador,  put  a  caravel  ini- 
der  sail,  and  with  her  sent  two  of  his  officers,  Ferdinand  Ciil- 
deron  and  George  Barloque,  to  the  Emperor.  It  seems  that 
in  his  con.st.'"'  loss  of  men,  and  the  condition  of  his  expedi- 


*  Doc.  iii,  lib.  x,  pap.  i. 

f'Llpcramn  den  U'cnas  mas  arrihadola  rasafiierte  al  puerlode  Siintiina.qne 
asl  'l.iino  Sebastian  Galjoto,  udondc  le  mataron  hasta  veynticinco  honiljies.  " 
Ilerrera ,  ib. 

"y  pste  rin  psta  en  xxviii  grados  y  esta  de  Santa  Afia  que  hHSta  aqiii  des- 
cubrimos."  Dicsio  Gnreia's  narrative. 

!"(!  descubrio  Sebastian  L'abotoeliasta  nueve  leguas  por  el  pnra.L'uay  aniliae 
de  aqiii dos  liisrores  le  mataron  la  primeni  gente  ....  que  Imya  . . . ." 

The  text  is  very  worn  liere. 

t;  "  hiista  al  Parnna,  donde  encontinron  dtra  armnda  del  eniper.i(l(ir,  nijo 
capitan  Diego  Garcia  de  Mugiier,  trato  de  uiiir.'ie  a  nuestra  armnda  piira  vulver, 
bieii  pel  trecliados  a  la  diclia  ."ierri ;  p'T  al  tin  no  linbo  cnnvenioentre  ales  gen- 
erales,  siguicndo  cada  ciial  rumbo  distinto."— Ramirez,  1.  c. 


1Nl»^- 


GAUCIA  MEKTS  CABOT. 


225 


lion  growing  divily  more  (Icsponito,  Ik;  had  sustained  liim- 
H'lfwitli  tiio  hot)o  of  reaching  the  treasures  of  La  IMata,  and 
thus  act'ompanying  the  news  of  his  stopping  on  that  river 
with  the  dii/zhng  announeemcnt  of  those  riches.  The  Span- 
ish people  and  government,  in  that  case,  would  have  ovor- 
looketl  the  failure  of  his  expedition,  and  even  hlcssed  his  decis- 
ion to  cut  it  in  halves.  And  he,  far  from  sinking  in  public  es- 
ttciii,  would  have  gain^vl  an  ;iioi'e.i,-o  oi.  respect  and  authority. 
lint  his  defeat  had  rendered  it  absolutely  impossible,and  the  re- 
fiisiii  of  Diego  Garcia  took  from  him  liis  only  means  of  suc- 
n'oding  ;  and  he  then  decided  to  send  to  Spain  to  recort  to 
ihcjjoYcrnment  the  state  of  affairs,  and  to  ask  for  aid. 

lie  gave  the  two  offieer.s  a  letter  for  the  Emperor,  in  which 
he  explained  the  sad  events  of  the  voyage,  and  the 
.iiiises  which  had  made  him  cut  it  short.  He  spoke  of 
his  determination  to  ex})lore  tho  river  discovered  by  Solis, 
of  tho  different  provinces  he  had  already  been  through, 
and  of  the  different  races  of  people  dwelling  in  tliem,  and  how 
giciit  wealth  could  be  got  from  them  ;  and  asked  for  men  and 
means  for  colonizing  the  territory.  In  support  of  his  account 
and  of  his  demands,  he  caused  some  Indians  and  various 
specimens  of  the  products  of  the  land  to  be  taken  on 
board,  with  samples  of  silver,  a  little  gold,  and  other  metals.* 


*"yuviL'iidi)seti)p;iil()o<)n  <•!  (Ga-cia  con  Caii'.t  >),  se  hohi  r.ii  juntos  adoiide 
tstiivii  Giei,'()ii<)  Caio  :  y  de  alii  Scl)aHtian  Gabf)tf>  esciivio  ul Hoy,  dandole 
(ni'iitii  lie  sii  viiiire  :  y  lii  causa  porqiie  no  avia  coiitiniiafio  la  iMvejracidii  a  la 
Esneckria  :  y  de  Ins  miiclias  pinvidcias  (jne  avia  descul)iert<»  en  iujuel  rio  de 
la  Plula,  y  diversas  1,'eaeniciones  de  Yiidios  que  avia  en  aquella  tieria,  del 
qiiiil  se  podiii  espcriii-  dt;  suciir  muy  irrandes  riqiiezas  :  y  con  csta  lelacion 
tniiiio  al  contador  Hernando  Calderon,  y  a  Jorire  Barlnqne.  TraxtTon  en  uno 
ii'siis  iiiivins  al,i,nino8  Yndios  y  innesr.ras  de  lo  que  avia  en  la  tierra,  y  plata,  y 
alinii  (iro,  y  otriKs  niuUdes,  piuiciido  irente,  y  licencia  para  poblar." 

Ilerrcni,  Dec.  iv,  lib.  i,  cap.  i. 

-  "  niiuidan  u  Espana  a  Ncrsi  Calderon  y  llosel  Barco  con  una  rarahtla  y 
aL'iino^i  pnscntes  de  oro  y  plata,  paia  quo  exponsraiio  a  S.  M.  las necesidadeg 
liHii arniaiia  y  inandcn  proveer  lo  neocsario."  — Ilamir-z,  App.  xxxvii. 

ThiMlilTcrerice  in  the  two  oflicers'  names  is  noi  so  likely  owing  ti«  a^uiisiako 
in  copying  as  it  is  to  the  difficulty  in  making  out  the  original  letter  of 
feniirez. 


226 


THE  LIFE  OF  SEBASTIAN  CABOT. 


*    , 


CHAPTER   XX. 

Cabot's  Return  to  Spain. 

At  the  end  of  October  in  that  year  (1528)  the  two  officers 
appeared  in  Toledo,  and  made  known  their  mission  to  the  Em- 
peror.* The  idea  of  colonization  was  very  well  received,  and 
the  Merchants'  Company  of  Seville  was  invited  to  share  in 
the  expense  that  would  be  incurred.  But  both  then  and  aftir- 
wards,  in  spite  of  all  solicitation,  the  merchants  refused  all  fur- 
ther  contnbutions.  The  failure  of  their  project  of  trade  with 
the  Moluccas,  made  them  hostile  to  any  proposal  with  wliich 
Sebastian  Cabot  was  connected.!  Then  the  Emperoi-,  wlioso 
hopes  had  been  raised  by  the  report  of  the  officer  'uid  tiie 
sight  of  the  objects  which  they  brought  as  sampk  unud 
the  entire  cost  himself,  and  gave  strict  orders  thu.  . ,  noiild 
be  provided  at  once,  it  being  too  important  to  secure  iinnie- 
diate  possession  of  lands  already  of  vast  extent,with  the  prom- 
ise of  still  more  if  the  possession  of  the  first  was  securod.i  But 


*  rii-rreia,  Dec.  iv,  lilt,  i,  cup.  i.  The  edition  consulted  !)}■  me  cives  tlie yt';ir 
ns  1527  ;  biu  lliis  is  an  evident  error,  whetlier  au  oversight  of  IIeriera's(irn 
inistiike  in  printing. 

t  "y  porqiie  los  armudores  avian  gastado  su  parte  en  aquella  arniadii  ((jiie 
no  nvia  ydo  a  la  Especeriu,  que  era  el  fin  con  que  lo  avian  hecho)  y  frajiisli 
que  no  perdii-s-en  el  iraslo,  les  mimdio  einbiar  la  copiadequuntoSebiistiaiiGii- 
lioio  escrivia,  para  que  si  quisiesseu  embiiirel  socorro  que  pedia  plalicasstn  so- 
bre  ello,  para  puriicipar  del  proveclio,  dimde  no,  le  avisassen  porque  su  Majes 
tnd  estava  determinado  de  manciar  lisizer  el  gasto  para  este  socorro  por  cntir  i, 
quaiido  los  armadort-s  no  lo  qui-iessen  por  cu  rata.  .  .Los  armadores  de  Seviliii 
en  todo  esto  niio  so  resolvicron  en  no  bazer  lo  que  el  Rey  pedia,  porque  avian 
giustado  nias  de  diez  mil  diioados  y  no  esneravnn  liien  del  proveciio  quo  ofrecia 
Sebastian  Gahoto."    Ilerreni,  Dec.  iv,  lil).  i,  cjip.  i. 

t"En  Sevilla  se  Iiazia  por  orden  del  Ri-y  i-ran  diligencia  para  que  los  nrmi 
dores  de  los  navios  que  llevo  Sebiisiimi  Gabotoconlrilniyessen  en  el  gasto  del 
Bocorro,  que  se  avia  determiaado  que  8e  le  embiasse  al  rio  de  la  Plata:  y  porque 


THE  HKVILLK  COMPANY  UEFU8KS  AID. 


227 


the  iinpcrinl  will  cncounti'rod  an  ()l),stiiclo  stronger  thun  all 
lijs  power,  .lust  ut  this  timo  his  liimnciiil  distress  wus extreme. 
U  war  with  tlio  I'ope,  with  Fnmee,  and  with  Venice,  ho  hud 
■iriiiios  ovory  where  ;  tind  in  face  of  the  enormous  expense  of 
arininjj  and  maintaining  such  hosts,  his  ordinary  revenues 
\vcrc  exhiiustod,  and  the  courts  of  Castile  firmly  refust^d  to 
I'laiit  him  extraordinary  suhsidies.*  Meanwhile  the  armies 
wro  mutinous  and  threatening,  l)ecauso  their  pay  was  in  ar- 
rears :  and  the  only  expedient  to  quiet  them  was  to  delivT  the 
property  and  persons  of  the  wretched  populations  to  their  fury 
and  greed.  Let  it  suftico  to  recall  the  soldiery  of  the  Con- 
stable de  Bourbon  and  the  pillage  of  Rome.  It  was  precisely 
at  this  time  of  extreme  pressure  that  Charles  V  made  tlie  sale 
(if  the  Moluccas  to  Portugal,  as  related  above,  notwithstanding 
the  cries  of  wrath  and  sorrow  raised  throughout  Spain. f 

hi  this  state  of  affairs,  instead  of  providing  for  further 
expenses,  it  was  much  to  carry  on  the  most  urgent  public 
Mvice  of  permanent  necessity.  So  days  wont  by,  and 
weeks,  and  months,  and  nothing  was  put  aside  for  the  cost  of 
the  La  Plata  colonization. 

Hero  would  be  a  fit  place  to  stop  awhile  to  consider  Cabot's 
opcriitions  on  the  Plata,  and  his  letter  to  the  Emperor  would 
bo  our  best  guide.  But  unfortunately  this  is  either  lost  al- 
ti)i,'cther  or  lies  hid  among  the  archives  of  Spain.  The  chart 
wliich  ho  made  of  that  country,  and  which  would  at  least 
have  furnished  great  aid  in  tracing  his  route  and  the  extent 
of  his  exploration,  is   also  lost.  Hence  we  are  confined  to 


SI'  ri'solvieron  du  no  gastar  miis  en  aquella  empresa,  el  Rey  matulo  que  se 
iiiziesseii  las  provisioncs  a  costa  de  la  Ileal  liaziciula  ;  y  por  mucho  que  se  en- 
teiiili:!  que  coiivenia  cmbiar  a  quel  sf)C<irro,  para  cdnscrv.'ir  el  dnnvinio  de 
ili)citM,t!is  Icguas  de  lierra  que  se  avian  descubieito  ..."  Id.  Dec.  iv,  lib.  viii, 
cap.  12. 

•Udl.crison,  IIi>t.  of  CLarlea  V.    Book  v.  Feb.  11,  1527. 

t  "El  Key  de  Portugal  .  .  .  bolvio  allevar  el  negocio  jt'ir  otro  camino  aprove- 
chaniios';  de  la  necessidad  en  que  vio  clie  estava  el  Emperador  de  diueros  .  .  . 
fii  Zara!;o(;a  a  veynte  y  dos  de  Abril  deste  anno  (l.'jaQ)  los  mesmoa  Commis- 
ariiis  cdebraron  carta  de  venta  .  .  .  con  pacto  de  retrovendendo  perpetuo  por 
precio  de  Irezientos  y  cinciieuta  mil  D  uad'H."— Herrera,  Dec.  iv,  lib.  v,  cap. 


w^ 


228 


THE  LIFE  OK  SEBASTIAN  CABOT. 


the  few  notices  gathered  here  and  there  in  the  Spanish  Jij^. 
torians   as   our   only    guides  in   following    hi.s    labors  aiKl 
enterprise.      This  chart,  according  to  the  testimony  of  Edi n 
showed  that  "From  the  mouth  of  the  river,  Cabot  savldl 
up  the  same  into  the  lands  for  tho  space  of  three  liuiulml, 
and  tiftie  leagues  as  he  writeth  in  his  own  Carde."*  Ranmsi,- 
is,  therefore,  mistaken  in  saying  GOO.f  Herrera  gives  a  lon.r 
list  of  the  populations  discovered    by  Cabot,   and  ends  liv 
saying  that  he  omits  the  names  of  27  others,  diircriiii,'  in 
name,  language,  and  customs,  for  fear  of  being  tedious.;};  Ili 
says  nothing  in  particular  of  any  of  them,  except  the  (ii.u- 
ranis,  who  were  the  principal  race  of  Indians  in  those  regions; 
so  that  we  are  unable  to  form  even  an  approximate  idea  of 
their  importance  :  but,  even  supposing  that  many  of  tlu-c 
j)(){)ulations  were  small  in  number  and  occupied  no  great  ix- 
tent  of  territory,  still  taken  all  together,  with  their  ditlerait 
customs  and  language,  they  must  iiave  extended  over  a  vn-t 
region,  and  the  work  of  ex})]oration  among  them  perfoniidi 
by  Sebastian  (Jabot  must  have  been  immense.      W)ieii,a  fiu 
years  later,  a  dispute  arose  between    Spain  and    Portuf];a!  fur 
the  possession  ofsomeof  the  regions  of  tiie    La  Plata,  Spain 
brought  forward  a  long  enumeration  of  tnbes,  its  ri;^dits  over 
which    it    defended    on    the  ground    that    Sebastian  Calmt 
liad   built    forts  on   their    lands,   oxen-ised  there  civil  ami 
criminal  judicature,  and  brought  those  populations  ..iider  tlio 
authority  of  the  S})anish  sovereigns.v:^  Tlis  eilorts  to  ascertain, 
as  far  as  possible,  the  condition  of  tlie  tribes  and  lands  farther 
in    t!ie   interior,  are  attested  by   the    information  be  gives 
on  tlie  invasion  of  the  Guaranis  in  Peru,  and  that  whioh 
he  obtained  from  them  regarding  that  rich  country. | 

♦Eden  Deo.  fol.  316. 

+  "  lo  volsi  navigaie  (La  Plata),  et  andai  all'  insil  per  quello  piil  di  scicentu 
leglie."  App.  xix. 

•j:  "  Passadns  estos  ay  vcynle  y  siete  nacioncs  d  nOnrcs,  y  ieiiguas,  \  cm 
diferenlesritos,  qiiepor  nodar  molestia  se  dexaii  di-  nombrar."    HeneM,  1. 1' 

fcj  "  Que  Selmsliiiii  Gaholo  avia  cdifirado  eii  aqiiellas  ti<'rras  foriiik'ZiiS(  is 
ercltado  iiisiicia  civil  y  criminal,  y  traido  a  la  obedicncia  Ri'al  todis  li'> 
aobredichas  generaciones."  Herrera.  Dec.  iv,  lib.  viii,  cap.  ii. 

I  "  Y  aviendo  heclio   Sebastian   Gahoto  la  paz  con  esta  generacion  — 


EXTENT  OF  CABOT' S  EXPLORATION. 


229 


lo  pi&  di  scicent" 


Of  the  experimenlj  made  in  cultivating  the  soil,  we  need 
110  testimony  to  assure  us,  considering  that  Cal)ot  had 
entered  that  river  on  account  of  his  want  of  provisions,  and 
therefore  was  under  absolute  necessity  of  obtaining  from  the 
soil  the  means  not  otherwise  procurable.  But  we  have  express 
record  of  it  in  Gomara  and  Eden.*  Ilerrera  speaks  of  it,  re- 
lafiiitf  tlie  marvellous  productiveness  of  ^ionie  animals 
bruu'dit  there  from  Europe.f  Sebastian  Cabot  himself  refers 
to  it  in  the  legend  or  inscription  which  he  affixed  to  those 
places  in  his  chart  of  1544.  We  have  already  mentioned  this, 
when  speaking  of  the  great  distress  to  which  his  men  had 
been  reduced  ;  but,  as  it  is  short,  it  will  be  well  to  giv(!  the 
nscriptioii  here  in  full.  "The  people,"  he  says,  "on  reacliing 
his  land,  wanted  to  know  if  it  was  fertile,  and  fitted  for  the 
cultivation  of  grain,  and  in  the  month  of  September,  they 
sowed  52  grains  of  corn,  which  was  all  they  could  find  in  the 
vessels,  and  in  the  month  of  December,  they  gathered  from 
itheiu  two  thousand  and  fifty  grains  ;  and  the  same  fertility 
was  found  with  all  other  seeds."  ^ 

Of  his   method  of  acting    towards    the  Indians,  we  can 

only  glean  a  hint  here  and  there  in  the  Process.    To  the 

I  charge  of    wilfully    remaining   in    La    Plata,   he   opposes 

j teiMvitnesses  who  testify  that  he  never. undertook  any  thing 

I  of  importance  without  first   consulting  his  officers.       One 

of  the  witnesses,  whose  charge  it  had  been  to  call  the  officers 

to thjse  consultations,  firmly  asserts  that  this  was  done  both  at 

[sea and  during  their  residence  on  shore.§  The  28th  interrog- 


i  con  el  amislad  desto8  supo  imiclios  socretos  de  la  tierra,  y  huvo  de  ellos 
joMyplatii  de  lu  que  trayaii  del  Peru."  Herrera,  11).  i'.). 

*G(imara,  cap.  Ixxxix.— Eden,  fol.  255-317.  t  Htrrera,  ib.  ih. 

:". ,  .la  iieiite  en  llejfado  nq  11a  terra  qiiiso  connoscer  si  era  fertil,  y  aparejada 

j  parii  lalirar  y  llevar  pan  y  senbraron  en  el  mesde  setienibre  11'  yranos  de  tluro 

quo se  all)  mas  enlas  naos  y  cogiero  lueco  enel  mes  de  deziembre  cinqueiita 

j  y  (ills  mill  sraiios  do  tigro,  q  esta  misma  fertilitad  se  hallo  en  todas  las  otras  se- 

lniillas."V.  App.  No.  xxxix. 

S"  Ytuii  si  saben  quel  dicho  Sebastian  caboto  ...  no  faziacosa  alguna  sin 
[que primer)  lo  consullase  con  los  capitanes  e  oflpiales  .  .  ."  V  Pregunta  de  la 
I  PfiliiiiKja  de  Seh.  Caboto.  All  the  witnesses  answer  it  in  the  affirmative.  Tlieix, 
I  "leone  referred  to  in  the  text,  deposes  :  "todas  las  cosas  que.  .  .  hazia  lo  bazia 
[  con  acuerdo  de  los  oflciales   .   .   .   per  queste  testisjo  por  mandado  del  dicho 


HHPf^PiP 


230 


THE  LIFE  OF  SEBASTIAN  CABOT. 


atory  speaks  of  his  great  diligence  as  well  in  the  govern- 
ment of  the  expedition  as  in  laboring  to  provide  for  all 
its  wants.  The  29th  shows  equal  diligence  and  caro  in 
relation  to  the  Indians  whom  he  wished  every  one  to  resiut' 
and  treat  with  kindness,  and  the  nine  witnesses  calk'd  uiiani- 
mously  confirm  the  truth  of  the  interrogatory.  And  while  he 
was  solicitous  for  their  welfare,  he  was  equally  f?ovcre  if 
they  were  wanting  in  their  duty  and  took  advantage  of  the  Ind- 
ian's  simplicity  and  feebleness.  We  have  seen  tlio  fate 
which  Francis  de  Lepe  met  in  Paraguay  for  atleiiiptin}^  to 
incite  liis  companions  to  mutiny  and  rebellion.*  The  same 
fate  befell  one  Martin  of  Biscay,  one  of  those  left  in  the  15av 
of  Saint  Catharine  from  the  ship  of  Don  Rodrigo  de  Aciinn 
in  Loaysa's  expedition,  and  who  afterwards  joined  Cabot'.s 
fleet.  This  Martin,  accustomed  to  going  about  freely  amongst 
the  Indians  of  that  bay,  with  no  other  restraint  than  his  own 
discretion,  found  it  hard  to  submit  to  the  regular  discipline  of 
the  expedition  ;  and  when  on  the  Parana,  suffering  frmn 
hunger,  he  joined  a  companion  from  his  own  province, 
and  both  together  entering  an  Indian  cottage,  first  threw  down 
and  beat  the  owner,  then  carriedolf  every  thing  they  pleased. 
and  finally  seizing  a  canoe  and  forcing  two  Indians  to  row  it, 
they  fled,  and  escaped  by  land  to  another  tribe.  Cabot, 
ascertaining  thei  r  place  of  refuge,  sent  a  band  of  his  own  men 
and  of  Indians  together,  to  take  him  by  surprise,  and  on 
capturing  him,  hanged  him  in  a  summary  fashion. f  huleed 
his  severity  went  so  far  that  we,  with  our  customs,  sliouM 
think  it  cruelty  and  barbarity.       To  clear  him  from  such 


capitan  y  va  :i  llamar  a  Ids  dichos  oficiales  para  ello  e  los  vio  platicar  sobre  las 
cosas  que  haviaii  de  liazer  ansi  en  It;  mar  como  en  la  lierra." 

*  See  ch.  xx. 

f"  Ylen  si  saben  quel  dlcho  Sebastian  calioto  niando  justiciar  a  dos  ombres 
.  .  .  uno  dellos  entro  en  casa  de  uuo  yiidio  principal  e  le  dio  de  palos  e  h  ropa 
todas  las  vestes  que  tenia  que  eran  unos  lirus  de  paflo  de  lana  que  vieiie  liela 
tierra  dentro  e  una  canoa  e  llevava  dos  yndii>H  por  fuerc;a  a  se  yvati  a  unnsin- 
dioR  que  lieran  nuestros  enemigos  ..."  Pregunta  xxvi  de  la  Prolmn(;ii  de  8i'l). 
Caboto.  ,  ae  particulars  indicated  are  by  tlievi,  viii,  &  ix  witnesses  :  Hievi 
says  :  "el  dlchn  capitan  general  aviaenviadoaotrosyndiosque  lostraxcsen;" 
and  tbeix  "eubio  a9iertos  cristianoa  e  yudios  trar  ul  y  le  (raxeroa  ..." 


^^■m 


MARTIN,  THE  BISCAYAN,  HANGED. 


231 


ticar  sobre  las 


stain, 


we  must  remember  what  wild  times  those  were,  and  in 
what  a  desperate  condition  he  was,  so  ti  he  was  forced 
to  become  unfeeling  in  order  to  make  his  autnority  respected 
;iiul  feared.  This  Biscayan,  as  he  was  hoisted  on  the  gallows, 
foil  to  the  ground,  the  rope  around  his  neck  breaking  ;  when 
raised  up,  in  the  condition  which  may  be  imagined,  he  cried  out 
with  all  his  might :  "Mercy  !  Mercy  !"  Cabot  sent  for  another 
rope  and  ordered  him  again  to  the  gallows.*  Another  who 
was  caught  stealing  public  stores,  and  on  the  point  of  fleeing 
with  what  he  had  stolen,  had  both  ears  cut  off,  as  a  punish- 
uK'ut,  and  as  an  example  to  others.f 

The  small  number  of  men  remaining,  after  deducting  those 
sent  to  Spain  with  the  caravel,  did  not  allow  of  his  extending 
further  his  explorations  and  discoveries  ;  and  his  whole  aim 
now  was  to  keep  the  Indians  in  the  favorable  disposition  to- 
wards the  Spaniards  to  which  he  had  brought  them,  and  to 
prepare  for  the  work  to  be  done  when  the  expected  reenforce- 
ments  should  arrive  from  Europe.  But  his  best-laid  plans, 
the  good  order  maintained  amongst  the  natives  and  the  Span- 
iards, all  the  fruit  of  so  many  labors  and  sufferings  were  de- 
stroyed in  a  moment  by  the  licentiousness  of  a  few  bad  men. 

We  saw  from  Ramirez  that  Cabot  and  Diego  Garcia,  unable 
to  agree  on  ajoint  course  against  the  natives,  took  each  his  own 
way,  that  is  to  say,  each  acted  with  his  own  forc<  independ- 
ently of  the  other.  TheGuaranis,  among  wli"'>i  lliey  remained 
after  the  peace  concluded  with  Cabot,  endi.  'ho  presence  of 
the  strangers  quietly  and  patiently,  but  the  >ad  i  ondu.  t  of 
Diego  Garcia's  men  aroused  their  spirit  and  restored  i  1  ■  ■  ir  nat- 
ural ferocity.  We  are  not  told  how  nor  why,  but  it  is  al  lost 
certain  that  the  trouble  was  about  women,  the  principal  cause 
that  always  brought  ruin  on  so  many  enterprises  of  discov- 
ery.     The  offence  rekindled  in  the  Guaranis  all  their  pride 


"Oyodccir  quel  diclio  martin  se  avia  naydo  de  la  horca  o  qiiebrado  la  soja 
e  que  avia  demandado  misiiicordia  e  que  lo  mando  otra  vez  ahorcar  el  dicho 
capitan  general."  vi  witness. 

f"  Yten  si  saben  que  hernando  caMeron  teniente  del  dicho  sebnstfan  caboto 
mando  acntar  a  uno  y  cortallo  las  orejaa  por  ladron."  PreguDta  xxvii  de  la 
toa  Proban9a.  , 


mm 


232 


'SHE  LIFE  OF  SEBASTIAN  CABOT. 


1 

li 

1 

' 

I'," 

r\   . 

*jv 

i 

h 

'i  ■  ■ 

^ 

k 

li' 

and  bravery,  and  they  wanted  reven|?e.  As  they  made  no 
distinction  among  the  wliites,  but  involved  Cabot's  men  in 
tlio  same  accusation  and  tlie  samcbatred  with  Garciu's,  thcv 
swore  their  extermination.  Word  being  sent  around  ms  to  the 
day  and  hour,  they  assembled  one  morning  at  daylight  in 
great  numbers,  and  assaulted,  as  it  would  appear,  at  the  same 
moment,  the  forts  of  San  Espiritu  and  San  Salvador,  near 
which  tlio  ships  were  at  anchor.  They  conducted  the  attack  so 
secretly  that  the  Spaniards,  living  in  perfect  tranquillity  ww, 
entirely  crushed  by  the  furious  storm  that  burst  suddenly  over 
them. 

As  usual,  we  are  wholly  in  the  dark  as  to  the  dotuils  ot' 
the  event.  We  are  only  told  that  the  Guaranis'  fuiy  eiiul)lo(l 
them  to  gain  the  forts  and  reduce  them  to  heaps  of  ashes : 
that  some  of  the  Spaniards  were  left  there  dead,  and  tlie  rest, 
finding  themselves  without  the  long-expected  succor,  dimin- 
ished in  number,  in  strength,  and  in  means,  in  the  midst  of  a 
hostileand  savage  population,  and  without  any  hope  fortlio  fu- 
ture, decided  to  embark  and  to  leave.*  But  even  their  dcpait- 
ure  gives  us  a  glance  of  a  frightful  accumulation  of  evils  and 
of  sorrow.  We  shall  soon  hear  him  relate  that  he  left  at  the 
La  Plata  one  of  his  ships  and  a  part  of  his  men,  and  one  of 
the  accusations  against  him  on  his  return  was  precisely  this 
abandoning  of  them.  But  how  did  it  hnjipen  and  why  ?— 
The  charge  naturally  recalls  the  idea  of  blame,  but  nowhere 
in  the  acts  of  the  Process,  which  I  have,  although  very  ]on<i:and 
full,  is  there  the  slightest  allusion  to  this  abandonment,  ex- 
cept incidentally  the  simple  mention  by  a  witness  that  he  was 
one  of  those  left  at  the  Plata.f     It  is  true  that  the  part  of  the 


*"  Miintiivo  Subastlan  Qaboto  dos  nnnos  el  amiatad  de  los  Yndids  Gtiiiniiiis,  y 
aviendose  qnebrado  por  al'junas  ooasioncs  que  diiToti  lo-!  soldidos  qoe  fiupm 
con  Diego  Garcia,  en  que  Sebas  ian  Gaboto  no  tiivo  c\ilpa,  los  Yiidios,  Mgiiiisii 
costumbre  liizieron  secretos  llamumieiitos  de  s<-"f«s,  y  dando  al  all^a  sobic  In 
fortrtlcza  de  Caboto,  la  qncniaron,  y  1<>  mesmo  liizieron  de  la  poMacioii  que 
avian  hecho  en  el  pncrtoqu  •  llamaii  de  8.  Salvador,  adondu  cstavan  losnavios, 
niatando  alirunos  Castellano=i:  los  qiiales  viendose  sin  socorn,  y  conociendo  In 
fornzi(iad  de  los  Yiidios,  tiiviernn  porbien  desampararlatierra  y  bolverseaCas- 
lilla."  Ilerrcra,  Dic.  iv,  lib.  viii,  cap.  13 

t"^'xo  que.  .  .  .vinieiido  este  testigo  con  una  nao  e  cierta  gente  quel  dicho 


»^««Hi 


ONE  SHIP  AND  PART  OP  THE  MEN  LEFT  AT  SANTA  MARIA.      233 

acts  which  I  have  refers  to  other  charges  and  not  to  this  one. 
But  seeing  that  his  enemies  are  intent  as  blood-hounds  in 
liunting  every  thing  in  his  conduct,  it  does  not  seem  to  me 
that  if  they  could  hiy  hohl  of  any  thing  here  they  vvouhl  liave 
lost  the  opportunity.  Hence  their  silence  is  to  me  a  proof  that 
whatever  cause  or  motive  forced  Cabot  to  abandon  a  part  of  his 
men,  in  determining  to  do  so  he  was  in  no  wise  wanting  in 
his  duty  and  fidelity  as  a  good  captain.  I  am  therefore  of  the 
opinion  that  this  charge  preferred  as  one  of  the  grounds  for 
his  arrest,  was  not  followed  up  when  in  the  course  of  the  proc- 
ess the  circumstances  were  better  understood.  To  explain 
the  fact  of  the  abandonment,  it  occurs  to  me  that  part  of  the 
iiieri  or  one  of  the  ships  may  have  been  so  disabled  by  the  sud- 
den attack  of  the  Guaranis  as  to  be  unfit  to  undertake  with 
llie  rest  the  labors  and  fatigue  of  a  long  voyage.  And  as  I 
iiiul  that  at  the  port  of  San  Vincente  these  men  were  regis- 
tered as  left  at  Cape  Santa  Maria,  I  believe  that  Cabot 
l»rought  all  his  men  down  the  river,  out  of  danger  from  the 
(luaranis,  and  left  them  in  safety  near  Cape  Santa  Maria.  The 
time  that  would  be  consumed  in  this  transportation  explains 
the  delay  in  Cabot's  departure,  which  was  decided  on  in  the 
council  of  officers  on  the  6th  of  October  1529,  and  we  shall 
tind  Cabot  on  his  way  to  Port  San  Vincente  only  on  the 
22nd  of  March,  1530,  six  months  after  the  affair  of  the 
Guaranis. 

At  the  bottom  of  Sebastian  Cabot's  proofs  are  two  memorials 
showing  that  at  the  port  of  San  Salvador  he  took  council  with 
certain  officers  of  his  fleet  as  to  what  should  be  done.  A  break 
iu  the  text  prevents  our  reading  the  whole  thought  of  Cabot ; 
but  from  the  context  and  what  is  said  in  the  memorial 
following  it  seems  clear  that  it  speaks  of  a  council  held  after  the 
destruction  of  the  two  forts,  in  which  it  was  discussed  wliether 
lis  matters  were,  it  was  advisable  to  adhere  to  their  former  inten- 
tion, or  to  yield  to  the  force  of  events  and  return  to  Spain.  This 
council  was  held  October  6,' 1529  :  hence  there  is  no  doubt  but 


sebnsiian  oaboto  avia  dexado  perdida  en  t-l  Kio  <ie  sulis  lu  dlcha  nun  apoi  l(>  al 
Puerto  de  los  Patos  .  .  .  ."— vi  witness  to  xxii  lut.  of  the  proofs  of  Vasquez. 


ppifp^plil 


I*     f 


234 


THE  LIFE  OF  SEBASTIAN  CABOT. 


the  catastroplie  must  have  happened  in  the  beginning  of  that 
month  or  late  in  the  preceding  September.  Cabot  presented  this 
memorial  in  his  defence.*  The  other  memorial,  which  was  con- 
cisely drawn  up  to  show  His  Majesty  how,  by  whose  fault,  and 
why,  the  fort  of  San  Espiritu  was  lost,  was  prepared  by  Cabot 
October  12, 1520,  six  days  after  the  council  of  officers,  who  fore- 
saw the  storm  that  would  be  raised  against  him,  and  prepared 
for  it  the  best  he  was  able.f 

Charlevoix  inserts  in  his  History  that  when  Cabot  departed 
from  the  Plata  he  left  there  a  force  of  120  men  under 
command  of  Nuilo  de  Lara  ;  and  relates  a  series  of  strange  ad- 
ventures growing  out  of  a  violent  passion  which  a  savage 
chief  conceived  for  the  wife  of  one  of  the  principal  offieorsrf 
the  garrison.  Where  he  obtained  his  information,  he  does 
not  tell  us,  and  if  asked,  could  probably  have  only  indicated 
his  own  fancy.  Here  as  elsewhere,  Charlevoix  labors  to 
produce  a  romance,  not  a  history.  ^ 

Before  bringing  Cabot  back  to  Spain  we  must  return  to  the 
three  rebels  we  left  at  the  Island  of  Patos.  By  means  of  the 
Portuguese  on  the  coast  of  Brazil,tliey  made  it  known  in  Spain 
that  they  had  been  abandoned,  and  how  much  ^hey  had  suf- 
fered, and  asked  to  be  allowed  to  appear  before  ti^e  supreme 
council  of  the  Indies  to  defend  themselves  and  show  that  they 
had  been  unjustly  dealt  with.  On  this  petition  Charles  V  or- 
dered Sebastian  Cabot  to  take  up  these  men,  and  either  cora- 


*  "  Ay  oiertos  pare9eres  que  sebastiiin  caboto  tomo  en  el  puerto  lie  San 
Siilvaiioi'  de  algunos  ofigiales  del  armada  sobre  lo  que  avion  dehazer  syguiemio 
el  viaje  ....  presentola  Sebastian  caboto  para  su  disculpa  porque  todos  con- 
cliiyen  que  no  se  deve  hazer  tomose  a  seys  dias  de  octubre  de  mill  e  quinienlos 
y  veyule  y  nueve  afios." 

[Note  the  words  in  the  Spanish  :  todos  eoncluyen  que  no  se  debe  hazer,  "they 
were  all  of  opinion  that  it  should  not  be  done  :"  i.  e.  continue  the  voyage. 
Tr.] 

■)•  "  Ay  otra  ynformacion  que  liizo  Sebastian  caboto  sumariainente  panique 
constase  a  su  magestnd  como  y  a  cuya  culpa  y  porque  causa  se  perdio  la  forta- 
lezadesantispiritus  (I  think  something  is  wanting  here  ;  or  else  we  should  read: 
'and  the  one  he  bad  made  at  the  port  of  San  Salvador  ')  que  tenia  htclia  en  el 
puerto  de  San  Salvador  presentola  Sebastian  caboto  tomose  la  dicha  ynforma- 
cion a  doze  del  mes  de  otubre  de  mill  e  quinientoa  y  veynte  y  nueve  afios.  " 

X  Charlevoix,  Ilistoiredu  Paraguay,  lib,  1,  p.  29. 


■■■I 


MENDEZ  AND  RODAS  DROWNED. 


235 


iiig  himself,  or  sending  a  vessel,  have  them  hrouglit  to  Spain 
that  tliey  might  be  heard.* 

The  delay  in  sending  out  succor,  prevented  Cabot  from  re- 
ceiving tlie  Emperor's  orders,  so  that  it  was  of  lus  own  accord 
tliat,  passing  by  the  Isle  of  Patos  on  his  return,  he  stopped  to 
pick  up  the  tln-ee  unfortunate  men.  But  great  changes  had  oc- 
curred among  them  in  the  meantime.  We  are  in  the  usual 
fliirkiiess  as  to  the  course  c^  the  events,  and  only  know  their  re- 
sult, but  this  is  enougli  for  our  purpo.se.  Bitter  hatred  had 
grown  up  between  the  Captain,  Francis  de  Rojas,  on  one  side, 
and  Martin  Mendez  and  Michael  de  Rodas  on  the  other  ;  and 
\v<as  further  inflamed  by  some  of  the  Christians  that  had  re- 
luiiined  in  the  Bay  of  Saint  Catharine  from  Loaysa's  expedi- 
tion, and  especially  one  Michael,  a  Genoese,  who  sided  with 
Mendez  and  Rodas.f  One  day  that  Rojas  caught  the  Genoese 
in  an  Indian's  cottage,  he  rushed  upon  him  and  stabbed  him  to 
death;:]:  whether  he  killed  him  out  of  brutal  malice,  or  the  Gen- 
oese had  previously  attempted  the  life  of  Rojas  and  the  latter 
wished  to  secure  himself  against  a  repetition  of  the  attempt  by 
relieving  himself  of  too  dangerous  an  enemy.§  The  fact  is 
tliat  after  this  killing,  Mendez  and  Rodas  became  very  suspi- 
cious and  fearful  of  Rojas,  and  seizing  a  canoe  with  an  Indian 
they  lied  in  it  to  seek  safety  in  the  Bay  of  San  Vincente  where 
there  were  a  number  of  Portuguese,  But  in  the  crossing  the 
canoe  capsized  and  the  three  men  were  drowned.  |    Soon  after, 


♦"Francisco  de  Rojas,  Marlin  Mendez  y  Miguel  lie  Rodiis,  por  via  de  Portu- 
gueses que  estavan  en  la  costsi  del  Brasil  avian  t-clio  saber  nl  Rey  el  desUerro 
en  que  se  hallavan,  padeciendo  muelio  trabajo  y  necessidad,  suplicaudo,  que 
si;  lesdiesse  liceucla  parayrse  ii  piesentnr  eii  el  supremo  Consejo  de  las  Jndiiis, 
Biionde  moslrarian  quan  sin  causa  avian  sMo  pucstos  en  aquel  pelitrro  con 
timtii  iifrenta  suya  ;  y  el  Rey  niando  a  Sebiisiian  Qalioto,  que  viniendo  o  em- 
liiando  qualquier  navio  o  qualqiiier  capitan  que  viniesse  en  estos  Reynos,  los 
tra.X(;s3en  para  que  fuessen  oidos  de  justicia." — Herrera,  Dec.  iv,  lib.  iii,  cap.  i. 

t  "oyo  decir. .  .quel  dicho  fnincisco  de  Rojas  e  martin  mendez  e  miguel  de 
Rodas  avian  tenido  giertas  diferenpias  sobrc  que  los  robolvian  y  andavan  mal 
metiendo  el  dicho  miqnel  ginoves  y  otros  cristianosquestavan  alii." — vi  tes- 
iBgoala  xxvPregunta  de  la  Probanda  de  Cuboto. 

fThis  is  said  by  the  10th  witness  of  the  same  interrogatory. 

§  The  6th  and  9th  witnesses  say  so  from  hearsay. 

|"YteQ  si  saben  quel  dicho  francisco  de  Rojas  mato  a  miguel  ginoves  a  pufia- 


|: 

1 

w 

l  '                       ^ 

H  , 

'  •■                  1! 

1 

|i 

t'- 

m 


236 


TIIK  LIFE  OP  SEBASTIAN  CABOT. 


«:■■!  -.i:S«S -'?«•, 


it  is  not  known  when,  Rojas  also  pnsscfl  over  to  the  same  hay. 
At  Patos  (!al)ot  joined  Die<^o  Garcia  wlio  seems  to  Imve 
arrived  a  little  before  him,  also  doubtless  overcome  by  the 
ruin  brou<;ht  on  by  the  licentiousness  of  his  men.*   What 
work  he  did  in  exploring  the  Plata  after  separating  from 
Cabot  we  know  not,  but  it  certainly  amounted  to  iiothinfr; 
for  he  was  a  man  so  full  of  himself  and  his  deeds  tliat  lie 
could  not  have  failed  to  mention  it.      But  instead  of  that  ho 
ends  his  narrative  by  saying  that  he  went  as  far  as  (Jabot, 
discovered  as  far  as  Cabot  discovered  :  and  this  is  all  his  cliiini. 
As  to  what  happened  afterwards  he  is  entirely  silent.f  From 
Patos  they  went  together  to  port  San  Vincente,  and  tberc  on 
Tuesday,  March  22,  1530,  Diego  Garcia  in  the  name  of  Se- 
bastian Cabot  notified  captain  Francis  de  Rojas,  under  pain 
of  life  and  loss  of  all  his  property,  to  appear  within  six  days 
on  board  of  the  ship  Santa  Maria  del  Espinar,  at  anchor  in 
the  harbor  of  San  Vincente,  which  was  at  that  time  the  Hag- 
ship  of  Cabot's  fleet,  to  be  carried  by  Cabot  to  Spain  and 
brought  before  His  Majesty  and  the  royal  council  oftbc  Indies 
to  give  an  account  of  his  conduct  while  Captain  of  the  sliip 
Trinidad.     I  know  not  why  this  notice  was  given  througli 
Diego  Garcia,  and  not  directly  by  Cabot  himself.:}:     And  in 


11. 


ladas  e  despues  de  miiurto  procuio  dn  malar  a  los  dichos  martin  mendez  e  a  mi- 
jiuel  df  Rddiis  e  a  hcsta  cmisa  se  liujeron  del  e  se  yvan  al  puerto  de  S.  vincente 
doiide  estavaii  muchos  p)rtO!^neses  e  se  abogiiron  ea  el  cariiino."  xxvi  Iiiter- 
rojjatory  of  Cabot's  proofs. 

All  tlie  witni'sses  confiim  the  killliiil  of  the  Genoese,  and  tlie  diowning  of 
Mendi'Z  and  Rodas,  but  none  mentions  the  attempts  which  Rojas  also  male  im 
tlie  life  of  both  the  officers,  his  enemies  :  indeed  the  ix  relates  that  he  IhhI 
heard  that  when  Roias  learnt  uf  their  flight  he  said  he  was  very  sorry  for  it. 

*  'a  qui  llego  sebasiian  caboio  niuerto  de  Lambre  en  este  tiempo  que  jn 
estiiba  alii."  Relacion  de  Diego  Oarcia. 

f  "  h  ist.i  aqiii  descubrimos  e  desciibrio  seliastian  gavoto  .  .  .  .  y  esta  <8 
la  verdad  que  lleu:ami)S  hasta  aqui  el  e  nosotros." 

t"Io  (llego  garcia  capitan  general  por  su  magestad  mando  a  vos  alnii?" 
gomez  varcla  escrivano  de  mi  harmadu  que  liiego  visto  este  mi  mandamienii> 
vayays  a  casa  de  ironzaln  da  cosU  portugues  y  notiflqtieys  un  mandamientn 
de  parte  del  senor  sebastian  gavoto  capllan  general  por  ou  magestad  al  capitan 

francisco  de  Rojas  en  su   persona fecho  en  el  puerto  de  san  vinceiitr 

martes  veynte  y  dos  dias  del  ines  de  margo  de  mill  e  quinientos  e  trentu 
anos  ,  .  ."  ^-.  ,-v    ■       _.  „,.  ^•.,,'  s';''"""  . 


! 


wm 


ROJAS  REFUSES   TO  GO  BACK  WITH  CABOT. 


order  that  Rojas  should  not  refuse  to  go  with  him,  uudor 
the  pretext  that  he  could  not  trust  hiai,  Cabot  pledgeil  his 
word  and  faith  that  he  would  present  hiui  unharmed  before 
His  Majesty  and  the  Council  of  the  Indies,  and  ottered  to 
I'ive  him  any  safe-conduct  he  wanted  for  security.*  But 
ilojas  refused  to  recognize  any  authority  of  Cabot  over  him 
after  deposing  and  abandoning  him  on  an  i«l;ind,  said 
that  Cabot  only  wanted  to  lay  hands  on  him  to  vent  his  spite 
upon  him  for  not  having  died  as  it  was  expected  ho  would,  and 
protested  that  he  was  ready  to  appear  belore  his  Majesty  with 
any  one  else  who  was  not  under  Cabot's  power.  >So  far  tJie 
conduct  of  Rojas  can  be  understood  and  explained  by  the 
natural  course  of  passion,  but  hearken  to  the  rest  of  his  an- 
swer. '  He  said  he  was  informed  that  they  had  left  at 
Cape  Santa  Maria  70  or  80  Christians,  and  among  them 
a  captain  and  other  officers  ;  therefore  in  the  name  of  His 
Majesty's  service  he  demanded  that  C'al)ot  should  give  him  two 
carpenters,  one  calker,  five  or  six  sailors,  his  chief  pilot,  and 
tools,  iron,  powder,  and  whatever  else  was  required  to  fit  out 
a  ship,  which  he  said  he  with  one  Gonzalez,  a  Portuguese,  had 
huilt,  and  which  Gonzalez  allowed  him  to  use  in  any  way  and 
for  any  purpose  he  pleased  ;  and  he  would  proceed  with  it  to 
Cape  Santa  Maria  to  take  up  those  that  were  left  there.  But  as 
the  ship  was  not  yet  decked  or  calked,  he  needed  what 
he  asked  for.f 


"  lo  Sebastian  gnvnio  t'lipitan  gtinial  de  estii  luirriiada  poi  su  mairestiui  que 
al  presente  tsta  siirtii  eii  eslf  pmrio  de  sim  vicente  niaiido  a  vos  francisco 
de  Rojas  capitan  que  fuystes  en  cstii  arniiula  de  la  nao  U'iiiidad  de  paite  de  su 
nmgestiid  que  veugays  aqui  dentro  desta  nao  sauta  luaria  de  lespjnar  que  ;i- 
Koia  es  capitaua  en  esta  armada  para  que  yo  os  Dieiie  eii  espi.na  para  pre- 
seutaros  ante  de  su  magestad  e  de  su  niuy  alto  eoneejo  delas  yndius  para  quo 
(leys  quenta  y  Razon  de  ciertas  cabsas  q".e  contra  vos  fueron  puestas .  .  ." —  v. 
App.  xl. 

*  "  e  porque  no  dudeissen  la  diclia  vuestra  venida  yo  ospronicto  y  doy  mi 
fee  y  pidubra  de  parte  de  su  magestad  de  darns  (juahjuien  setruro  que  vos  qui- 
jeidcs  pedir  y  demandar  para  la  sejrurittid  de  vueatra  persona  liasta  pre- 
sentamsante  de  su  magestad  6  desu  Real  CoiiS'  J  >  d  1  is  Yndins."  II). 

f  "lie  sydo ynformado  como  quedaron  en  <1  calx)  de  santa  maria  liasta  setenta 
0  oclienta  cristianos  entre  los  quales  ay  capitan  y  oflciales  de  su  magestad  .... 
pido  y  Requiero. . .  .para  aver  de  Redemir  a  quusta  gente  doscarpinteros  y  un 


.•t 

H 

j 

WM\"' 

.,-,.d. 

mmm 


II  I'! 


SI '   * 

m 


I  -?      ;"<SSvr-'':£E.-\  ': 


238 


THE  LIFK  OF  SEBASTIAN  CABOT. 


As  to  the  persons  said  to  have  been  left  at  Capo  Santa 
Maria,  Rojas  undoubtedly  alludes  to  those  Cabot  had  hccn 
obliged  to  leave  at  the  mouth  of  La  Plata,  as  we  have  related. 
That  Rojas  exaggerates  in  putting  the  number  at  sovontv  or 
eighty  seems  to  me  evident,  when  we  consider  the  nunilKr 
dead  at  Santa  Catalina,  San  Lazaro,  and  San  Salvador, 
those  that  perished  in  the  long  navigation  of  La  Plata,  those 
killed  with  the  lieutenant  Rifos,  and  the  others  lost  wlion  Die 
two  forts  were  burnt.  To  these  must  be  added  those  provjou.sjv 
sent  to  Spain  with  the  two  ofHcors  Calderon  and  IJai-loquf, 
and  those  who  were  now  returning  with  Cabot ;  and  it  is  eas- 
ily seen  that  there  could  not  be  still  seventy  or  eiglity  re- 
maining out  of  the  two  hundred  who  were  all  he  had  on 
starting.* 

To  this  first  service  Rojas  offered  to  add  another  wliieli 
would  repair  in  the  interest  of  Spain  a  very  serious  ])lunder, 
or  rather  crime,  committed  by  Cabot.  We  must  dwell  awhile 
on  this  point. 

When,  accompanying  Diego  Garcia  on  his  voyage  to  La 
Plata,  we  reached  the  Isle  of  Patos,  we  said  that  when  he  camo 
to  speak  of  that  place,  he  began  with  fresh  fury  to  abuse  the 
name  of  Cabot,  but  merely  mentioning  the  matter  then,  we  re- 
served for  another  place  this  new  impudence.  Hero  is  the 
place  to  discuss  it.  Rojas  said,  then,  to  Cabot  :  '•^Thry  hair,  told 
m<!  that  at  the  Isle  of  Patos  you  took  four  Indians,  which  has 
put  the  whole  country  in  a  state  of  fear  and  agitation  :  now,  as 
this  concerns  the  service  of  His  Majesty,  I  offer  to  carry  back 
those  four  poor  savages  to  their  island,  to  quiet  that  port  and 
have  peace  with  its  inhabitants."  f  We  will  presently  tell  what 


ciiliifiite  y  ciiicooseys  marineros  y  el  piloto  Enrique  patiiiicr  piies  iiolc  .ibeys 
inenester  por  ser  vns  piloto  nmyor  y  asy  misiiio  pido  y  Ricniiero  s-ifmr  m- 
hastian  guboto  me  deys  liierro  para  que  yo  liuja  clavaron  y  otrascosas  fie  Ri-s- 
fiate  que  para  el  diclio  viaje  liemos  rneucster  y  quatm  beicos  con  sns  opiueios 
e  quantitiul  de  polvora. . .  .el  qual  dieho  iiabio  le  falta  de  liazcr  la  cubititii  y 
calafatear  aido  y  Haquiero  el  dicho  sefior  Sebastian  gavoto  me  de  lo  que  diciio 
.  .  .  .  "  See  App.  xl. 

*  See  App.  xli. 

f— "me  an  dicho  que  en  la  ysla  de  la  haja  de  log  patos  tomnstcs  quiitro 
yndios  por  lo  qual  la  tierra  toda  queda  alborotada  y  atemorizada  y  porque 


FOUK  INDIANS  SEIZED  AT  I'ATOS. 


239 


concerns  Diego  Garcia  in  that  deed  ;  but  first  tliere  is  this  to  bo 
remarked  on  the  score  of  Francis  do  Kojas,  tliat  inimodiately 
after  speaking  of  these  four  slaves  taken  by  Cabot  at  Tatos,  he 
mentions  that  the  Emperor  Jiad  permitted  tlie  captains  and  olK- 
cers  of  this  expedition  to  take  two  slaves  each  ;  and  as  he  in  liis 
character  as  captain  of  one  of  the  ships  liad  availed  himself  of 
this  authorization,  he  requested  Cabot  to  take  his  two  slaves 
on  board,  carry  them  to  Spain,  and  consign  them  to  his  heirs. 
Ifhe  refuse  1,  he  protested  that  he  would  exact  damages  from 
Cabot's  person  and  property.  *  I  do  not  know  of  any  such 
authorization  of  the  Emperor  as  related  by  Koj;is,  of  which 
there  is  no  hint  or  mention  anywhere,  l)ut  which  is  in  open 
contradiction  with  the  public  orders  expressly  given  and  re- 
peated by  the  Emperor  to  respect  the  freedom  of  the  Indians. 
But  as  there  are  only  too  many  proofs  that  while  the  public 
orders  said  one  thing,  they  tolerated  privately  another,  I  am 
willing  to  suppose  that  authorization  to  liavo  ])een  granted. 
But  this  does  not  diminish  the  impudence  of  Rojas,  wlio  whilst 
olieriug  to  repair  the  wrong  done  by  Cabot  in  taking  slaves 
for  himself,  at  the  same  time  protests  against  any  damage  ho 
may  receive  from  his  own  not  being  placed  in  safety. 
Let  us  come  now  to  Diego  Garcia.  Narrating  his  arrival  at  the 
Isle  of  Patos  after  leaving  the  Bay  of  San  Vincente  to  proceed 
ti)  the  Plata,  he  says:  "Proceeding  on  our  way  we  came  to  a  I'iver 
called  the   River  of  los  Patos  ....   they  are  a  good  race  there 

and  do  very  good  work  for  the  Christians here  they  gave 

us  many  victuals.  .  .for  they  were  good  Indians,  and  here  ar- 
rived Sebastian  Cabot  dead  with  hunger  while  [won  there  ;  and 
the  Indians  gave  him  food  and  all  that  he  needed  for  him- 

ciimpU)  al  servicio  de  su  magestad  ...  me  prefloro  de  poner  los  diclios  yndios 
eutregaudomelos  vos  ea  su  tierra  y  dicho  puerto  y  liacer  pace  con  lodos  cllos 


*  "por  quanto  su  magestad  hizo  merced  a  los  capitanes  e  oficiales  di;la  dicLa 
Mimiida  que  pudiesen  llevar  y  llevnson  cada  dos  esclavos  per  lo  qiiul  yo  fruti- 
cisco  de  Rojas  Ciipitan  que  fuy  de  una  nuo  dela  diclia  armada  pido  y  Rcquiero 
a  vuestra  merced  el  diclio  Sebastian  gahoti>  que  tenira  por  bien  de  me  llevnr  los 
iliclios  dos  esclavos  los  qunles  tengo  aqiii  aparejjidos  <■  que  lus  den  e  entreirnen 
nmis  herederos  o  a  quien  en  mi  poder  obiese,  donde  n  >  que  protesto  delos  co- 
brar  de  vuestra  persona  y  bienes  do  quier  que  sc  i)udieseii  aver." 


mmmir 


240 


THE  LIFE  OF  HEUASTIAN  CABOT. 


\n  ' 


h  < 


sell  and  his  men  for  their  voyuj^e,  and  when  lie  wanted  toK,, 
where  ho  was  goin^,  he  took  four  sotis  of  the  principal  ihi- 
sons  there  and  carried  thoni  to  Spain,  and  three  of  them  he  Jim. 
at  Seville,  which  injured  that  port  which  was  thelur^re.st  iin,, 
the  hest  people  there  were  in  those  parts,  because  ho  took  th; 
sons  of  the  i)rincipal  persons  of  the  island."* 

How  is   CJarcia's  story  to  l)e  understood  ?  that   Cabot  com 
niitt(Hl  this  crime  ingoingor  returning  from  his  expedition ',' i 
think  there  can  be  no  doubt,  and  all  will  say  it  was  in  goiu};.  li, 
fact  Garcia  speaks  of  his  arrival  at  the   Isle  of  Patos  in  ijoim; 
adding  that  Cabot  arrived  at  the  island  vhilut  he  wnn  ihcf,. 
wbieh  must  logically  and  naturally  mean  that  was  on  his  \v;i\ 
out.       Add  that  Clarcia  in  his  narrative  speaks  of  his  voya};( 
to  the  furthest  point  ho  reached,  and  Ima  itot  a  aiiiglc  ivord  on 
what  he  did  after  his  arrival  there  or  on   his  return,  Hi- 
story must  thon  l)oyond  all  question  refer  to  the  time  wlicn 
he  was  sailing  on  the  way  to  the  Plata  ;  and  so  it  is  understood 
also  by    Ilerrera,  who  makes  it  the  l>asis  of  a  charge  against 
Cabot,f  .so  also  Biddlo  who  with  all  the  .sharpness  of  his  genius 
labors  to  show  the  moral  impossibility  of  Cabot's  coninutting 
this  infamy  on  his  way  to  the  Moluccas. ;}: 

Ikit  Garcia,  putting  this  event  at  the  time  of  his  going  oin, 
lies  impudently.  I  pass  over  the  arguments  of  itsimpioha- 
bility  l)rought  by  Biddle,  for  his  lying  can  be  more  easily  mid 
effectually  proved  by  the  documents,  or  rather  from  Garciu's 
own  story.  He  says  that  ho  left  the  IJay  of  San  Vinceuto  .laii- 

*"u  nndandoeii  el  camino  ulk'siimnis  a  iiii  tiiMiiicsi;  lliiniu  el  Rio  ili'liisi)a'ii>. 
q\w  ay  iinii  buenii  ireneracion  que  hact!  muy  huciiii  olira  &  los  cristianos.  .e  ;illi 
iins  (liiTon  iniu'lia  vltiuillii  ....  poiqiio  liciiui  biienos  yndios  e  aqiii  llcjio  sc- 
liasliaii  (;al)oti)  miiiMto  di;  liainhre  en  este  iicinpo  que  yo  I'stalm  alii  i;  lusyinliot 
le  (IJL'ion  <ie  comer  e  todo  Id  que  avia  ineii<\sttT  a  el  e  a  an  yente  para  sii  vitijiy 
qiiaiido  se  qiiiso  ir  n'  se  iliatoino  qtiatro  liiJDS  de  los  in-inoipalcs  de  alii  c  los 
trayo  e»  cspana  e  los  tres  dellos  los  lieiie  ep  sevilla  el  quid  dauifico  aqiul  |iu- 
erio  que  liera  d  major  e  mas  biiena  geiitc  que  en  nquella  parte  aviapov  c;iiis:i 
de  tomar  los  hijos  delos  prlncipales  dela  ysla." 

t  "  llegi)  a  la  isla  de   Patos,  con  niuclia  hand)ie,  y  fue  bien  recibidodn  1".. 
yndios,  que  le  dierori  miiclia  vietualla  con  (jue  bastecin  los  navios,  auiKjiic  «!• 
lo  pugd  inal,  jioique  tonio  quatro  Idjos  de  los  liombres  maaprincipales."   Die. 
iii,  lib.  X,  o.ip.  i. 
X  See  Memoir,  bk.  i,  p.  228  and  sq. 


■""^"^•■•Pi 


OAIU'IA  S   KAI.SKIIOOI). 


241 


iijiry  15,  1527.*      Tlion  lio  could  not  havo  boon  iit  Patos  be- 
l.,ri'  tlio  011(1  of  that  month,  or  tlu^  tuirly  part  of  Fobnuiry.  Ca- 
l„,t,(m  till'  other  hand,  left  rornanibuco  JScpteniber  2Uth,  IS'iJJ, 
ii„l  sailed  direct  to  the  15ay  of  Haint  Catharine,  that  is  to  say, 
;„  Piitos:  whoro  ho  niUHt  havo  arrived  in  October  152(),  or,  if 
much  delayed  on  the  voyage  by  foul  Aveathcr,  in  November 
at  tlio  latest  :  and  ho  remained  at  the  Bay  of  Saint  Catharine 
till  the  ir)th  of  February  Ifj'JT.f   How  then  could  Ciarcia  say 
thiit  ('allot  arrived  at  I'atoH  v'1ul.<t  Jirinm  there,  since  Cabot  was 
iilnwly  in  the  Bay  of  Saint  Catharine  months  before  Garcia 
siiik'd  tVoin  Saint  Vincent  ?   But  it  is  not  only  false  that  Cabot 
oil  his  outward  voyage  arrived  at  Patos  whilst  Garcia  was 
there,  but  they  did  not  even  meet  there.  If  they  luid  met, 
both  sailing  under  the  same  flag,  is  it  io  be  supposed  that  they 
|i;i(l  no  more  communication  with  each  other  than  to  avoid 
wuli  other  like  the  plague  ?  No:  iind  therefore  they  would  havo 
known  of  each  other's  voyage,  that  is,  that  they  were  both 
Ijouml  for  tho   Plata  ;  for  Cabot  came  to  the  determination  to 
stop  nt  that  river  after  a  council  held  with  his  officers  in  tho 
Buy  of  Saint  Catharine,  and  this  determination  was  public  and 
known  to  everybody. :{;    If  it  had  been  so,  would  not  Gar- 
riiihavo  spoken  of  it  in  his  narrative,  and  complained  of  Ca- 
iiiit's  invasion  of  his  rights?  But  ho  has  not  a  word  of  it. 
indeed  it  is  clear  fi'om  his  narrative  that  it  was  a  surprise  to 
hiiii  to  find  Cabot  at  the  Plata,  and  it  was  a  surprise  to  Cabot 
and  his  men  to  see  Garcia  come  there.  Without  my  going 
into  tho  proof  in  detail,  let  the  reader  remember  the  meeting 
of  Garcia  and  Grajeda  when,  neither  knowing  of  tho  other, 
they  were  on  the  jioint  of  coming  to  blows  ;  lot  him  remem- 
ber Cabot's  apprehensions  when  ho  heard  that  other  white  men 
were  ascending  the  Plata,  supposing  tliem  to  bo  Portuguese.g 


ales."   Dec. 


* "  .  .  .  alii  ( St.  Vincent)  estuvimos  liasta  quinze  de  enero  del  iifio  syguiente 
(iexxvii .  .  .  ." — and  again,  "de  aqui  paitimos  mediados  del  mes  de  enero." 

t"Al  poco  tiempode  haber  siilido  do  este  pHeito(Pernambuc<))29  de  setiein- 
bresofaion  etc.  eic."— ".salieron  deste  piierto  que  llainaron  de  St.  Catalina  el 
15  (ie  Pehrero  de  1527."— Ramirez,  v.  App.  xxxvii. 

f  See  wliat  was  related  in  cb.  xviii. 

S  "  El  desgraciado  esito  de  esta  espedicion  (tlie  death  of  Lieutenant  de  Ri- 
le 


4 


mm 


J'!!;5  ■ 

I  < 


242 


THE  LIFE  OF  SEBASTIAN  CABOT. 


But  without  this,  there  is  the  word  of  Rojas,  authenticatofUv 
a  notary,  which  makes  Diego  Garcia's  falsehood  as  clear  astlie 
light  of  day.     He  was  not  only  present  at  Patos  \\licn  Ciilwt 
canic  and  when  he  left  ;  but  was  deposod  at  the  very  iiioiuiut 
of  his  departure.        No  one  would  be  more  likely  to  know  if 
Cabot  made  slaves  of  those  four  young  men,  and  if  the  i^lami 
Avas  in  a  ferment  on  account  of  the  atrocious  offence;  and  nn 
one,  considering  his  hatred  of  Cabot,  would  be  more  liktlv 
to  remember  it  and  make  it  known.     At  Port  Saint  Vincent 
Rojas  sends  this  message  to  Cabot  :   "■TJi.cy  have  tohlmeWvM-n 
the  Isle  of  Patos  you  took  four  Indians  :"  it  nuist  thoiLloio 
have  been  after  his  departure  and  consequently  when  Culiot 
stopped  again  in  the  Bay  of  Saint  Catharine  on  his  return. 

It  is  clear  and  evident  that  Garcia  lied  when  he  said  (lit; 
capture  was  made  when  going.  Was  it  made  on  the  icturn? 
Yes.  We  have  no  reason  for  denying  it,  and  the  evidence  of  I 
the  fact  which  Garcia  gives  when  he  says,  "and  three  of  tlic:ii 
he  has  at  Seville,"  removes  all  doubt,  for  it  was  a  matter  m 
easy  to  verify  that  it  would  have  been  absurd  to  doubt  liis 
positive  assertion. 

But,  the  reader  may  say,  why  make  so  much  coi  iplaiiit 
about  those  four  slaves,  whether  Sebastian  Cabot  took  them 
first  or  last?  In  those  times,  it  wls  only  too  often  that  whole 
ship-loads  of  slaves  were  brought  to  Europe  from  tlie  New 
World,  and  the  deed  ol  Jabot  in  comparison  is  a  triile  nut 
worth  making  account  of  And  what  interest  had  Garcia  to 
displace  the  fact,  and  what  effect  w  ould  the  displacement  liave 
on  Sebastian  Cabot  ?  In  itself  tiio  n.atter  is  if  no  importance; 
but  as  we  have  repeatedly  said,  in  tlie  absence  of  the  neces- 
sary light  to  show  us  our  way,  we  must  make  use  of  ev  /v 
gleam  we  catch  here  and  there  to  find  our  path  in  the  dark- 
ness which  envelopes  it.  In  this  accusation  by  Garcia  we] 
get  a  glimpse  of  the  dark  fabric  of  falsehood  and  ealuvnny 
against  Cabot  on  bis  return  voyage  to  Spain.  Tlie  mutter  of  j 
the  four  slaves  is  very  small,  but  the  strength  of  great  ropes  is 


fo8)  y  el  saber  que  andaha  u>ia  armadn  pnituguesa  en  el  rio  Soils  fiieio  n)"ii;"> 
para  que  el  general  (le(eriniDn3e  volverse  rio  abajo  hasta  elParaua."  Uaniinz, 
App.  xxxvii. 


SEIZURE  OF  THE  FOUR  INDIANS. 


243 


composed  of  fine,  weak  threads.  Garcia  changed  the  time 
\fhen  the  act  was  done,  hecauso  if  it  was  on  his  return,  it  bore 
no  weight  against  Cabot,  but  if  on  the  outward  voyage,  it 
luiirht  furnish  a  weapon  against  him,  and  it  was  most  useful 
to  Uiircia  to  seize  and  use  it. 

It  is  necessary  for  the  reader  to  remember  the  base  bargain 
which  Garcia  had  made  at  the  port  of  Saint  Vincent  with  the 
Portuguese  bachelor,  selling  him  his  largest  ship,  and  all  his 
wishes  to  give  it  a  color  of  necessity,  but  without  success,  as  is 
told  by  Herrera,  who  calls  Garcia's  reasons  mere  pretexts,  al- 
though he  was  niost  favorable  to  him  and  inclined  to  sustain 
liiia.  When  Garcia  made  that  sale  he  had  hopes  for  the 
future  uiid  did  not  doubt  that  he  would  be  able  to  pass  it  off 
a?  a  good  bargain.  But  when  Cabot  returned  from  his  ex- 
peilition  weary  and  discouraged,  with  his  wings  chpped,  Gar- 
cia could  be  in  no  bettor  condition,  for  his  expedition  also  ]\ad. 
entirely  failed  of  its  pui-pose.  This  is  convincingly  proved  by 
Ms  silence  in  his  narrative,  notvvithstanding  the  loquacity  of 
bis  vain-glorious  tongue.  The  abandoning  of  the  Plata  was 
wholly  the  fault  of  his  men,  and  every  one  knows  that 
the  fault  of  an  army  falls  entirely  on  the  Captain  in 
coiuinand.  Garcia  therefore  had  cause  for  alarm  on  his  return 
I  to  Spain.  What  was  he  to  do  to  turn  attention  from  him- 
1  self  upon  another  ?  Tliat  which  too  often  occurs  in  daily  life, 
I  the  man  with  the  least  scruple  to  put  his  hands  on  another's 
i  property  is  the  first  to  cry,  Stop  thief,  and  the  strictest  pro- 
fessor of  morals  is  often  the  one  who  most  needs  to  practise 
them.  Garcia,  in  his  intercourse  with  Cabot's  men,  saw  what 
w:'.3  fermenting,  he  foresaw,  as  was  easy  to  do,  what  a  burst 
of  iuiger,  recrimination,  iuid  revenge  his  arrival  would  pro- 
'liii'o  in  Spain,  and  to  divert  the  eyes  of  others  from  himself 
he  joined  the  choir  of  accusers.  The  fact  of  the  four  slaves, 
however  insignificant  of  itself,  acquired  a  certnin  weight  in 
|face  of  the  laws  of  Spain,  and  Calwt's  office  of  chief-pilot, 

h«t  is  to  say,  the  highest  authority  in   the  marine  of  all 

ppaui.     The  council  of  the  Indies  had  given  positive  orders 

to  all  sailing  for  the  Indies  to  u.se  no  viol(>nee  towards  the 

natives;  and  Stephen  Gomez,  who  disregarded  these  orders 


244 


THE  LIFE  OF  SEBASTIAN  CADOT. 


and  came  back  with  a  cargo  of  Indian  slaves,  found  the  whole 
nation  excited  to  indignation  against  him.*  These  orders  wore 
given  to  Cabot  in  particular,  as  they  were  to  all  others.f  NOiv 
what  judgment  ought  to  be  passed  on  Cabot,  if  he,  who  held 
the  highest  grade  in  the    Spanish    Marine,  had  shanichsvlv 
trampled  on  the  orders  of  the  government  which,  tiiouo-h  i^. 
sued  to  all  Spaniards  in  general,  yet  had  special  reference  to 
men  of  the  sea  ?     And  if  such  contempt  would  have  niadi  a 
bad  impression    in   any  case,   what    must   it  do   when  he 
returned  defeated  in  his  undertaking,  and  the  nol)]o  hand  of 
young  men  who  had  followed  him  with  trust  in  his  pronii*iN 
were  nearly  all  left  dead  in  a  distant  land  ?     What  must 
have  been  the  impression  on  seeing  him  return  to  Spain, imt 
with  the  promised  treasures  of  Tarshish  and  Ophir,  but  with 
four  boys  torn  from  their  mothers'  arms,  children  of  a  people 
friendly  to  Spain,  cordial,  hospitable,  and   that   liad  lieeii 
of  service   to  the    Spanish    ships  ?  The   weapon  seized  hy 
Garcia   might,  then,  wound,    and   that   seriously  ;  and  he 
feel  secure  in  his  blow,  for  once  the  fact  was  true,  no  one  wlm 
heard   of   it   would   care    whether    it    happened   earlier  nr 
later.     Whereas,  if  the  fact  happened  later,  Cab(>t  was  frw 
from  all  blame.  Of  this  there  can  bo  no  doubt.  Captain  Rojiis 
brought   against    Cabot    a   serious    charge,  collecting  evcrv 
detail  that  could  injure  him,  but  boldly  distorts  the  facts.  It  it 
had    been    true    that    in    so    seriously  ofiending   tliose  isl- 
anders, Cabot  had  injured  and  endangered  the    Spanish  vr- 
sels,  why  did    Rojas,  who  in  the  suit  against  Cabot,  hrouj,dit 
forward    the   minutest   spots   in    the  expedition,  —why  diil 
he  not  take  up  the  complaints  of  the  Indians  and  make  tlitui 
known  to  all  Spain  ;  especially  as  he  had  offered  to  return  the 
four  youths  to  their  homes,  and  thus  restore  tho  peace  and  se- 
curity of  the  island  ?  The  reason  is  plain.  At  Saint  Vincent  it 
sufficed  that  the  fact  was  at  bottom  true,  to  cast  It  in  Cabot  s 


*  Peter  Martyr  d'  Anghiera,  Dec.  viii,  cup.  Ut. 

t"  Diosc  a  Gaboto la  instiucion  come  la  del    Coineiulaiinr  Loav?a. 

Herrera,  Dec.  iii,  lib.  ix,  cap.  3.— anl  Lnaysa's  iustnictions  were  :  "  qi"' !" 
curassen  dc  aver  lentriiHS  (ie  lodaa  1,hs  tierras  que  desoubriessen,  y  la.s  tiatassen 
bien."  —Id.,  Dec.  iii,  lib.  vii,  cap.  6. 


wn 


CABOT^S  ANXIETY  ON  HlS  RETURN. 


245 


face:  but  for  the  trial  it  was  necessary  to  show  that  it 
was  wrong,  and  as  he  could  not  do  this,  he  went  no  fur- 
ther. In  truth,  why  should  Cabot  have  so  grievously  injured 
those  poor  islanders  ?  Not  for  the  purj)ose  of  exhibiting  some 
of  them  as  specimens  in  Europe  :  for  Fatos  was  only  a  step 
from  tlic  coast  of  Brazil,  Avhero  the  Portuguese  were  continually 
.'iiing  and  coming  with  tlieir  ships,  and  the  poor  inhabitants 
(if  that  island  could  present  no  novelty  to  interest  Europeans. 
Xot  witii  a  view  to  gain,  for  that  were  ridiculous  to  suppose  ; 
still  less  from  mere  caprice  or  evil  disposition.  If,  then,  it  was 
not  from  interest  or  malice,  there  must  be  some  other  way  to 
exphiin  it,  and  one  which  entirely  exonerates  Cabot.  We  may 
cmly  divine  wliat  it  was  from  the  letter,  which  we  shall  soon 
nonnl,  of  a  Portuguese  who  was  equally  removed  from  partial- 
ity for  Cabot  and  Cnircia.  From  liim  we  shall  learn  that  Cabot 
ivturned  to  Spain  with  only  twenty  men,  of  all  that  had 
«;iilcd  witii  him.  With  tJie  service  so  reduced  it  is  easy  to  un- 
(ler.'^tiuKl  tliat  the  return  voyage  was  difficult  and  dangerous. 
Tiikiiig  tliisinto  consideration,  and  also  the  fact  that  after  his 
rutuni  to  Hpain  no  one  from  any  quarter  brouglit  up  the 
chiir^'o  that  he  liad  taken  those  four  young  men  at  Patos,  I 
hold  tliiit  ho  took  them  under  constraint  of  the  need  of  hands 
for  the  wants  of  the  ship,  choosing  them,  not  as  Garcia 
caliiinniously  pretends,  from  the  sons  of  the  principal  persons 
oil  the  island,  but  from  the  strongest  and  most  tit  for  the  work 
required. 


(CHAPTER  XXI, 

Arrival  in  Spain. 

In  the  thick  darkness  which  obscures  every  tiling,  there  is  no 
(liinger  of  running  into  romance  in  supposing  that  Cabot  on 
his  ivtiirn  to  Spain  was  anxious  ns  to  the  reception  he  should 
meet.  F,,r  all  that  he  felt  liimself  free  from  fault,. the  fact 
remained  that  he  was  a  general  returning  from  battle.defeated, 


'mmp 


246 


THE  LIFE  Oi^  SEBASTIAN  CABOT. 


and  his  army  annihilated.  He  could  not  but  know  the  deep 
hate  for  him  brooded  over  by  some  of  his  officers  wlio  had 
been  accomplices  of  the  three  rebels,  and  who  were  afterwards 
kept  under  obedience  only  by  fear.  They  were  Spaniards,  Ik- 
a  foreigner  ;  they  would  have  with  them  the  whole  clioir  of 
their  relatives  and  friends  to  howl  and  bustle,  disguisini; 
and  falsifying  things,  inventing  charges  and  caluiniiios :  lu; 
had  only  the  truth  for  his  justification  in  showing  the  misfort- 
unes that  had  pursued  him.  His  fancy  must  have  droaded 
above  all  the  company  of  merchants,  whose  anger  lie  had  al- 
ready aroused,  and  whose  vengeance  would  now  be  hitterly 
excited.  Still  ignorant  of  the  reception  given  to  the  two  of- 
ficers he  had  sent  to  Spain,  he  must  have  worried  greatly  over 
that  long  silence  of  twenty-two  months,  concerning  the  dis- 
position of  the  Emperor  and  the  government  in  his  regard.* 
These  doubts  and  anxieties  are  not  founded  on  any  docu- 
ment which  records  them,  but  on  human  nature,  and  conse- 
quently are  true.  Neither  Herrera  nor  the  other  historiaas 
have  a  word  on  Cabot's  arrival  in  Spain;  the  only  document 
whif^h  mentions  it  is  a  letter  from  Dr.  Afibnso  Simao  to  the 
King  of  Portugal.  This  is  dated  August  2, 1530,  and  was  writ- 
ten the  same  week  that  Cabot  arrived  from  La  Plata.  His  return 
was  consequently  in  the  latter  part  of  July  1 530,  and  as  hisde- 
parture  was  in  the  beginning  of  April,  1526,  we  know  that  the 
expedition  lasted  four  years  and  four  months.  The  portion  i 
of  Si mao's  letter  referring  to  Cabot  is  as  follows:!  "This  week 
there  arrived  here  a  pilot  and  captain  who.  was  sent  to 
discover  land.  His  name  is  Gaboto,  he  is  the  chief  pilot 
of  these  Kingdoms,  and  is  the  same  person  that  sent  the  ship 
which  touched  at  Lisbon  two  years  ago,  and  brought  news  of 
land  discovered  on  the  River  Pereuai  which  they  said  abounded 
in  gold  and  silver.  I  find  him  very  wretched  and  poor,  for 
they  say  he  brought  no  g(jld  or  silver,  nor  any  thing  of  profit 
to  those  that  fitted  out  the  vessels,  and  of  200   men  that 


*The  two  officers  proscntud  themselves  to  t!ie  Emperor  at  Tolerlo  at  the 
end  (if  October  1528,  nnd  Cabot  returned  to  Spain  in  the  latter  part  of  July  153(1 
f  Tlie  Appendix  gives  the  letter  in  full.  See  App.  xli. 


""■mi 


COMPLAINTS  AGAINST  CABOT. 


247 


lie  took  with  him  he  brings  back  less  than  20  ;  for  they  say- 
all  the  rest  were  left  there  dead,  some  from  fatigue  and  hun- 
rrcr,  others  killed  in  war;  for  they  say  the  arrow-wounds  killed 
many  of  them,  and  the  wooden  fort  they  built  was  destroyed  ; 
«otluittliey  are  very  ill-satisfied  and  the  pilot  is  a  prisoner;  and 
they  say  they  will  send  to  court  to  see  what  they  order  done 
with  him.  What  I  could  learn  and  what  is  said  here 
iiublicly,  though  in  a  low  voice,  is  that  in  the  land  they 
say  they  discovered  they  left  no  guard  but  their  dead  and  de- 
serters. But  notwithstanding  this,  these  men  tell  mo 
they  saw  that  the  land  possessed  much  silver  and  gold,  and 
the  reason  why  tliey  brought  none  is,  as  they  say,  because  the 
captain  would  not  allow  them  to  bargain  for  it,  and  also  be- 
cause tlio  Moors  deceived  them  and  rebelled  against  them. 
Yuur  Highness  will  believe  wliat  you  think  best  of  this,  but 
it  is  certain  that  the  land  is  abandoned.  The  river,  they  say, 
is  very  long  and  deep,  and  very  wide  at  its  mouth.  If  Your 
llij^huess  sliall  find  it  for  your  interest  to  send  there  now,  you 
could  do  so,  for  these  people  fly  from  a  place  where  they  see 
no  money." 

To  add  comments  on  this  letter  would  only  lessen  the 
fteling  of  deep  sadnes^^iS  it  produces  in  the  mind  of  the  reader. 
But  to  understand  how  it  was  possible  for  the  voyage  to  be 
made  with  the  number  of  men  so  greatly  reduced,  it  must  be 
remembered  that  Cabot  had  left  part  of  his  men  at  Cape 
Santa  Maria  on  the  Plata,  and  naturally  left  one  ship  with 
them,  Indeed,  in  the  Proofs  of  Catharine  Vasquez,  to  the 
22nd  interrogatory  one  of  the  witnesses  says  expressly  that 
he  came  back  from  La  Plata  on  one  of  the  ships  left  there  by 
Cabot.*  Another  ship  was  sent  to  Spain  with  the  twoofiicers  ; 
the  tlag-ship  was  sunk  in  the  Bay  of  Saint  Catharine  :  so  that 
of  the  four  ships  with  which  he  set  out  only  one  remained 
for  Cabot  on  his  return.  This  explains  the  possibilily  of  do- 
ing with  so  small  a  number  of  men.     But  to  these  should  bo 


♦"  Dixo  que  ....  veniemio  este  testigo  con  una  nao  e  gierta  gente  quel 
(iicho  Sebastian  caboto  avla  dexado  per.tida  en  el  rio  de  snlia  la  dicha  nao 
»pi)rl6  al  Puerto  de  Ids  patos  quea  9erca  della  dicha  jsla  de  santa  catalina." 

vi  witness. 


248 


THE  LIFi5  01?  SEfcASTiAJJ  CAftOt. 


in  -^  '■ 


*i ;  i'!' 


added  the  four  young  men  taken  at  the  Isle  of  Patos  :  in  re- 
gard to  wliom.  as  the  evidence  now  shows,  the  reader  nmv 
confirm  his  consciousness,  or  rather  certainty,  tliat  tlicv 
were  taken  hy  Cabot  and  put  aboard  his  ship,  not  for  miiii 
nor  from  malice,  but  from  the  absolute  need  he  had  of  Jielp. 
ing  the  few  hands  he  had  left. 

As  soon  as  he  arrived  in  Spain,  his  enemies  fell  upon  him 
with  the  fury  and  unanimity  of  a  lot  of  city  dogs  on  a  Icim 
country  dog  trembling  with  fear  and  hunger.  So  great  was  the 
burst  of  accusations  and  rumors  that  the  Coviiuil  ot'llio  In- 
dies decided  to  have  him  arrested  at  once.  In  tho  furv  of 
this  attack,  this  snapping  and  biting,  some  of  his  own  officci-s 
were  preeminent  for  their  hatred  and  rage  ;  so  much  so,  tlmt 
one  witness  testifies  that  it  was  said  and  believed  ainontf  the 
members  of  the  expedition  that  it  was  they  who  bad  causoii 
liis  arrest.*  A  regular  trial  was  opened  at  his  chai-go  on  the 
accusations  preferred  against  him. 

Of  this  trial  I  have  been  nbl(!  to  obtain,  as  I  have  said  else- 
where, the  complaint  presented  l)y  Catliarine  Vas(iuez,motlier 
of  Martin  Mende/  ;  that  of  Francis  de  Rojas,  and  the  answer 
or  defence  made  by  Cabot.  Rojas  presented  his  comjdaint  No- 
vember 2  of  that  same  year,  only  three  months  after  Cat  lot's  re- 
turn ;  so  that  he  must  have  followed  him  closely  to  the  kSiJanisli 
coast.     These  documents  are  too  scanty  to  reconstruct  the  pin- 

*"0yo  decir  este  testigo  en  sevilhi  a  muclias  personas  y  niariiuTos  dc  Li 
(licha  armada  quel  dicho  alonso  bueno  e  santa  ciuz  e  gasmirL'Z  c  jiiiin  iW 
jiinco  avian  heclio  prender  al  diclio  capitan  sebasfuin  caboto  per  I'licmistivi 
fjue  con  el  teniau." — I  witness  to  tbe  xxxi  Interrogatory  of  Sebastian  Cabot's 
proofs. 

Thp  XXX  Interrocatory  of  Cabnt'R  proofs  mentions  Juan  de  Jiinco,  treasurer 
of  the  ship  Santa  Maria,  whose  hatred,  according  tf)  the  10th  witness,  was 
principally  due  to  Cabot's  just  severiiy  in  restraining  liis  tyranny  over  liii 
subalterns  ;  the  XXXI  sliows  Alonzo  Bueno,  by  the  testimony  of  all  tlw;  wit- 
nesses, often  reproved  l)y  Cabot,  even  pul)licly,  as  a  blaspiiemer,  and  fnr  keep 
ing  in  his  quarters  a  gaming-table,  and  for  selling  articles  to  the  sailors  fur 
more  tlian  they  were  worth  ;  the  XXXII  names  Alonzo  de  Santa  Cniz,  Init 
the  witnesses  only  know  that  be  liad  the  name  of  lieinsr  <>ne  of  tlie  conspinU'R 
against  Cabot,  and  liad  said  every  thing  i)ad  of  him  since  their  return;  llie 
XXXIII gives  the  name  of  Gasmircz  Coremberg,  a  German,  whom  Cabot  iiinl 
reprimanded  and  punished  with  great  severity  for  public  slander  of  tbe 
Emperor. 


■•>*♦• 


tOMPT-AiVTS  AOAINST  CABOT. 


240 


ccoilings  in  their  entirety,  but  tliey  arcsullicient  to  show  wilh 
what  fury  every  kind  of  aecusntioii  was  liuntod  out  and  piled 
111)  against  Cabot.  In  tlie  course  of  this  narrative  we  have  had 
repeated  occasion  to  take  up  some  of  them  :  hut  to  wliat  has  al- 
ready been  said,  it  will  be  useful  to  add  a  few  things,  not  so 
much  for  the  purpose  of  exposing  the  hale  of  his  accusers  and 
\\wir  activity  in  hunting  up  charges,  as  to  show  that  they  did 
not  scruple  to  cast  in  his  face  the  most  inconsistent  and  bare- 
faced calumnies. 

We  have  seen  that  Michael  Rodas  and  Martin  Mendez  were 
lost  on  the  passage  from  the  Isle  of  Patos  to  the  mainland 
while  fleeing  from  the  dagger  of  Captain  de  Rojas  ;  yet  Men- 
(lez's  mother  claims  that  Cabot  was  guilty  of  his  death,  because 
it'  ho  had  not  phiced  her  son  on  that  island,  he  would  have 
hiul  no  need  to  flee  from  Rojas,  and  so  would  not  have  per- 
ished.* At  the  Bay  of  Saint  Catharine,  among  many  others 
that  died,  there  was  also  a  brother  of  Lieutenant  Martin  Men- 
dez, named  Michael.  His  mother  claims  that  Cabot  was 
truiltv  of  his  death  also,  saving  that  her  son  died  of  a  broken 
lioart  because  his  brother  was  deposed  and  abandoned. +  The 
witnesses  produced  by  Vasquez  her.self  in  support  of  her 
charge,  agree  in  testifying  that  he  was  taken  sick  and  died  of 
tliesame  disease  as  many  others.  Only  one  testifies  that  he  had 
hoard  it  said  that  his  death  was  caused  by  his  brother's  misfort- 
une.:}: It  is  worthy  of  remark  also,  that  this  witness  always  con- 
firms the  accusation  in  almost  the  very  words  of  the  interrog- 
atory, as  though  repeating  a  lesson.  Take  as  a  sample  the  X  in- 
terrogatory, where  it  is  asked  if  Cabot  arredcd  Martin  Mendez 
tmihoiUjnd  cause.  All  the  witnesses  depose  affirmatively  as  to 
the  arrest,  but  answer  that  they  did  not  know  whether  the 
cause  was  just  or  not;  those  who  want  to  be  favorable  to  Vasquez 
say  they  have  not  seen  or  heard  Martin  Mendez  do  or  say  any 


*.\xii  iDteirogatory. 

t  XXX  luterrogatory. 

t "  ciiyo  malo  y  murio  de  la  dicha  dulcncia  pero  que  si  oayo  ninlo  de  pensa- 
miento  de  la  priaioa  de su  lieiinaui.  luarlin  mendez  o  no  que  este  tesligo  no  lo 
siibe  mas  de  lo  aver  oydo  decir  por  muy  ^ierto  a  la  mas  dc  la  dicba  armada  per 
cosa  cierta."  I  wituess. 


M 


■iw I 


W'  '\  ■« 


250 


THE  LIFE  OP  SEBASTIAN  CAUO'i. 


lii:!' 


♦    1 


thing  which  in  their  opinion  deserved  arrest.*  But  this  witness 
that  I  speak  of  affirms  frankly  that  he  saw  that  he  was  arrcj^tid 
u'ithout  just  cause.  On  the  otiier  hand,  the  witnesses  produced 
by  Cabot  for  the  defence,  not  only  affirm  unanimously  tliat 
Michael  Mendez  was  taken  with  the  same  malady  ns  all  tho 
others,  that  he  was  ill  many  days,  and  that  Cabot  treated  him 
with  every  care  during  his  illness,  and  one  witness  had  visited 
him  frequently  by  Cabot's  orders  :  but  they  also  add  that  he 
died  before  his  brother  was  arrested  and  deposed.^  Elsewhere  the 
same  Vasquez  (and  she,  poor  soul,  is  to  be  pitied  for  having 
in  the  agony  of  her  mother's  grief  taken  up  every  story  that 
was  told  her),  in  the  XXXI  and  XXXII  interrogatory  ac- 
cuses Cabot  of  having  tried  to  poison  her  son  Ferdinand. ;{:  No 


*III — "Sabe  quel  dicho  Sebastian  caboto  mando  plunder.... peio  qiiela  causa 
por  que  lo  mando  prender  no  lo  sabe"  =VIII— "Dixo  que  oio  que  ."acaron. .  . 
al  diclio  martin  mendez.  .  ,  .e  que  lo  demas  no  lo  sabe."=X — "  Dixo  que  . , . 
vio  conio  al  dicho  martin  mendez  lo  traxeron.  .  .que  no  sabe  la  causa  por  que." 

— And  tlie  others  : 

VI — "Vio  como  el  dicl)o  sebaslian  caboto  mando  sacar  .  .  .  al  dicho  martin 
mendez  e  .  .  .  .  e  que  d'esfa  pi  ision  e  mal  tratamien^o  ....  no  vio  hiizer  iil 
diclio  martin  mendez  cosa  en  desservicio  de  su  magestad  donde  lo  meresriese." 
=VII — "Vio  como  el  dicho  Sebastian  Caboto  mando  sacar.  .  .al  dicho  mariiii 
mendez  e  ...  no  vio  ni  oyo  quel  dicho  martin  mendez  .  .  .  oviese  fecho  cosa 
que  nodeviese  por  donde  deviese  estar  preso." 

The  first  witness,  on  the  otlier  hand,  says  boldly  : 

— "  Vio  quesm  causa  justa  que  tuviese  el  diclio  Sebastian  caboto  mando  pren- 
der y  lener  preso  al  dicho  niarlin  mendez." 

\ — "  Sabe  quel  dicho  hernan  mendez  estovo  muchos  dias  doliente  y  enfermo 
come  estovieron  otros  muchos  lie  la  dicha armada.... e  que  vio  este  testigo  quel 
dicho  capitan  caboto  trataba  nuiy  bien  al  (iicho  hernan  mendez,  e  que  sabee 
vio  r-^\\v\  dicho  hernan  mendez  murio  de  la  enferniedadque  tenia  porqucstovo 
rnucho  tienipo  enfermo  en  la  cama  y  cste  testigo  lo  vio  en  la  cama  maloy  levio 
enterrar."=Tlie  iii  witness  to  the  first  of  the  annexed  InterMgatorics.  Tiie 
other  six  witnesses  repeat  and  confirm  the  same  thing.  The  vi  acids — "murio 
de  la  dicha  enfermedail  como  miirieriiii  otros  e  murio  antes  quel  martin  men- 
dez su  hermano  quedase  alii  desterrado,  e  questo  que  lo  sabe  porque  fu  asy  pu- 
blico entro  todos  los  de  la  dicha  armada:" —  and  the  ix— "  queste  testigo  por 
mandado  del  dicho  capitan  caboto  vesito  mucbas  vezes  al  dicho  hernan  men- 
dez—." 

J"Yten  si  saben  vieron  etcetera  questando  enfermo  e  mal  dispnesto  el  diclio 
beman  mendez  el  dicho  Sebastian  caboto  mando  y  hizo  que  en  una  purga 
que  se  le  dava  para  su  salud  se  le  ecliasen  otras  cosas  muy  dafiosas  pestilen- 
ciales  de  cuja  causa  el  dicho  hernan  mendez  murio  y  espiro  luego  como  se  le 
dio  la  dicha  purga  y  en  acabandola  de  tomar  se  puso  en  todo  su  cuerpu  de  co- 


AUREST  OF  CABOT. 


251 


witness  answers  this  intorrn^jitory.  Nor  does  any  witness  an- 
swer tlie  XXV,  in  wliich  \'asquez  says  that  "when  Cal)()t  was 
leturning  to  Spain  he  was  asked  hy  many  to  toueli  at  the  Isl- 
Miid  of  Saint  Catharine  to  take  up  the  three  deposed  ofheers, 
,111(1  that  he  refused  saying  he  heHeved  they  were  dead  or 
cjiten  by  IncHans  :  from  whieh,"  ot)serves  Vasquez,  "  it  must 
1,1-  presumed  that  he  left  them  for  the  purpose  of  kilHng  them, 
mill  that  they  miglitiho  there."*  This  infumous  accusation, 
if  not  answered  by  any  witnesses  on  the  trial,  is  answered 
in  Cabot's  defence  in  history  by  Diego  Garcia's  calumny  when 
lie  charges  him  with  taking  from  Patos  four  young  Indians 
when  he  passed  there  on  his  outward  voyage  (and  we  have 
seen  full  evidence  that  the  fact  occurred  on  his  return);  and  by 
the  notice  given  to  Captain  de  Rojas  at  the  harbor  of  Saint 
Vincent  to  come  on  board  of  his  ship  under  promise  of  being 
presented  safe  and  sound  before  the  Emperor  and  the  Council 
of  the  Indies. 

There  is  another  circumstance  that  ought  to  be  mentioned 
as  a  signiticant  mark  of  the  surroundings  in  which  the  charges 
against  Sebastian  Cabot  were  developed.  Captain  de  Rojas,  in 
liis  interrogatories,  hardly  mentions  the  grounds  on  which  he 
was  going  to  explain  his  charges,  before  he  puts  this  first 
question  to  his  witnesses  :  "  Do  they  know  that  he  is  an  hi- 
dalgo's son  of  known  worth,  and  Sebastian  Cabot  a  foreigner 
and  nobody  knows  who  he  is.  "  f 


lor  muy  negra  y  tal  que  notoriamente  paresgia  que  le  avian  echado  en  la 
(iiclia  purga  cosaspara  que  miiriese." 

— " Ay  ninguii  tet-tigo  que  sepaesta  Pregunta."  — Preguntaxxxi. 

Precunta  xxxii  is  all  spoilt,  but  its  sense  comes  out  clearly  :"...saben  vicron 
etcetera  e  dello  lia  ...  pul)li('a  vuz,  e  fama  entrc  ...ute  de  la  diclia  sirmadaque 
pnr  ...  e  ynduatriay  consejio  del ....  stiaii  cahoto  se  dio  la  diciia  pur  .  .  .o  lier- 
iiHiiii  mendez  e  se  ecba  .  .  .  11a  e  rexalgar  e  otras  cosas  que  luego  cansaron  sii 
miieita  etc."  —  To  tiiisalso  tiiere  is  no  witness. 

*  "  Yien  si  sabeii  etcetera  que  al  tiempo  que  agora  bolviael  diclio  Sebastian 
caboto  Ids  que  veuiau  en  el  armada  le  requirieron  que  tocasen  en  la  didia  vsla 

(iesanta  catalina y  el  dicbo  seliastian  caboto  nolo  quiso  liazer  diziendo 

que  ya  creya  que  beran  muertos  o  comidos  de  yndios  pur  donde  es  de  cree» 
quelos  dexo  alii  con  proposito  de  los  malar  e  para  que  se  niuriesen." 

f  "  Yten  si  saben  ....  quel  dicbo  capitan  Francisco  de  K(>j:is  es  bijo  dalgo 
de  valor  conocido  y  el  diclio  sabastiaa  gaboto  es  eirangero  y  no  se  sabe  quiea 
es "II  Int.— App.  XXXV. 


.  "'J 


■  e. 


252 


THE  MFK  OP  SEBASTIAN  CABOt. 


W  '^' 


Wo  who  know  how  thinj^s  wont  on  that  unfortunate  expn- 
(lition,  ovon  when  hiyin^  sojno  of  tho  hhinie  on  Culiot,  now  on 
boholdin^  him  rctnrn  so  torn  and  crushod,  arc  more  ilum 
evor  inc'UniMl  tosynipathi/o  witli  Inni.  Buttho  Spaniards  knew 
Httlo  or  nothiiif^  of  what  lni<l  occurrod.  Vory  httU'  of  tiiu  roiiort 
hrounjlit  by  tho  two  officers,  ultliou^hconiniunicatod  tothcMcr- 
clnints'    Company,  can  have  reached  the  knowledge  of  tin 
puldic  ;  and  if  there  then  was  great  disappointment  at  luit 
having  secured  tlie  fan  ied  treasures  of  Tar.shish  and  Opliir, 
there  was  tlie  consolation  of  having  found  a  land  ahouiulin^r 
in  silver-mines.     And  besides,  the  two  years  that  had  jjussimI 
since  then,  must  Inive  greatly  weakened  that  sad  impression  ; 
so  that  Spain  must    have  been,  and  was,  quiet  enoui;li  mi 
regard  to  that  expedition.     But  now,  on  its  return,  no  silver, 
no  commerce,  no  possession  of  the  River,  and  of  200  persons 
that  had  embarked  only  a  score  come  back,  and  they  all  nigireil, 
lean,  exhausted  in  body  no  less  than  in  mind.  The  blow  must 
have  been  the  severer  that  it  was  the  less  expected.     The 
howl  of  protest  and  coniT  ^  '"nt  against  Cabot  was  the  very 
natural  result  of  such  sp.       cle.        A  battle  that  lurns  out 
badly    may    be    imputed    to    adverse    circumstances,    the 
overpowering  number  of  the  enemy,  to  a  thousand  dillerent 
causes  ;  but  the  destruction  of  an  entire  array,  the  total  loss  of 
arms  and  baggage  can  be  imputed  only  to  the  inefficiency  or 
treason  of  the  general.     And  Cabot's  position  was  made  a 
thousand  times    wor.se  by  the  fact  that    voices  were  raised 
among  his  own  officers  to  accuse  and  condenan  him.      What 
a  chorus  of  imprecations  was  there  !     What  cries  for  ven- 
geance !     Even  the  Exchequer  turned  upon  him,  and,  all  it 
could  do,  charged  him  with  not  having  followed  the  instruc- 
tions given  him.    Cabot,  in  the  midst  of  the  furious  tempest, 
alone,  a  foreigner,  ci-ushed  by  sufferings  of  the  mind,  with 
every    appearance  of  being  to  blame,    could  only  look  for 
acquittal  from  so  many  accusations  to  time  and  the  .stilling  of 
passions.  Is  it  surprising  that,  with  all  the  clamor  against 
him,  the  Council  of  the  Indies  at  once  ordered  the  arrest  of  the 
wretched  captain  ? 

In  a  report  which  the  Council  of  the  Indies  sent  to  Charles 


ARHEST  OF  r,\noT. 


253 


V,  \vc  find  the  heads  of  the  char;j;os  on  whicrh  the  order  of 
arroHt  was  btiHcd.  "Ho  wns  arrested,"  says  the  report,  "at 
(lie  M  quest  of  ruhitives  of  persons  of  whoso  death  lie  is 
iicciisi'd,  as  also  of  hiivni<jj  ahundonrd  others  on  the  land, 
;iii(l  at  the  r(M|uest  of  the  Kxehequer  which  eharji;eshiiii  with 
iu<,'le(;tin^^  to  folhjw  the  instructions  he  iiad  received."* 
And  as  the  complaints  were  made  immediately  on  his 
toiicliing  the  soil  of  .Spain,  the  arrest  followed  without  delay. 
Ill  tact,  Simao,  in  his  letter  of  August  2,  says  :  ^^Thin  week  a 
pilot  arrived  ....  named  Cabot.  .  .t!ie  pilot  is  kept  a  p*/«- 
o/irr."i' 

Ai  the  end  of  the  Proofs  of  Vasquez  and  of  Cabot  there  is 
luontion  of  other  "Informaciones,"  but  unfortunately  wo 
have  "idy  this  mere  mention.  * 

After  this  it  a,L!;ain  grows  dark  around  us,  and  wo  lose 
si^lit  of  every  thing.  Wo  only  know  that  in  May,  1531, 
Cabot  was  at  liberty  on  bail,  §  and  that  in  February  of  the 


*  "  Maiidii  V.  M.  que  lo  hngnmos  siil)cr  la  cubsii  de  la  piision  du  Sebasliim 
Caboto.  El  file  pri'so  u  peiliniioiito  de  iilguiios  puiitiitcs  (i<-  idsiiiims  persoims, 
que  (licen  que  es  ciilpiulo  en  sus  niuerles,  y  por  divos  que  destt-no,  y  iiimbiuii 
!i  |)f(iiii)ieiil<)  del  fiscal,  por  no  liaber  uuardado  las  iiijstruciosit  k  (jue  levo— ." 
Naviirrete,  Cidtcioii,  T.  V.  p.  iJ33. 

f  "  Esta  soraanii  cliegDU  aciui  tiC  piloto  . .  .  .  o  quval  sc  clianni  gabote  .... 
0  piloio  "stii  presso  .  .  .  ."  See  A  pp.  xli. 

tAt  ihe  end  of  Vasqutz's  Pioofs  v,c  read  :  "Dcnias  AisXa  provan^a  con- 
tciiidaeii  esta  rtda^ion  ay  (;ieita9 ynfoniiaciones  liocluissyn  i)ait(;  de  las  qualcs 
sc  liaze  mas  larga  minQJoii  cu  la  Kelavion  quesia  sacada  de  la  provauva  quo 
cal)i>to  lii/i)  en  esta  causa." 

" esta  bion  sarada  en  lo  sustaiK;ial=nay  una  rcbrica." 

And  at  Uie  end  of  Cabot's  :—"De  mas  de  la  provani;a  hecha  en  plenario 
jiiv/io  por  Sebastian  caboto  e  por  el  fl.^cal  e  por  catalina  vasquez,  ay  una 
jnformneion  quo  se  hizo  ante  los  oti(;iales  de  la  ( a.'^a  de  la  contrutac'ion  de 
sivillaesta  tomada  syn  parte  en  juyzio  .  .  .  rio  piesuiitole  catalina  vastpiez  fiu; 
ri(;cUi(la  y  hecha  en  dos  dias  del  mes  de  Agosto  de  mill  e  quiniontos  y  treinta 
atios  " 

"Av  olra  ynformacion  hecha  do  offl(;io  por  los  oflgiales  de  la  casa  de  la  con- 
iratacion  de  Sevilia  para  saber  que  se  hizo  en  el  viaje  de  la  diclia  armada 
He." 

"Ay  otra  yuformaQion  sumaiia  hecha  s''^  parte  a  pedimiento  de  Sebastian 
calioto  ante  la  justicia  liordinaria  de  li  dad  de  sevilia  sobre  lo  liecho  y 
acliac(,'ido  en  el  viaje  de  tarsis  eicetc  ■  hizo  (d  iii<'he  Sebastian  caboto 

lomosc  asyele  dias  del  mes  de  iV.'nsio  dn  .     il  c  (piinientis  y  treynla  aflos." 

^  Tliis  is  mentioned  in  a  report  of  llie  Council  of  the  Indies  to  the  Emperor 
Charles  V.  dated  May  16,  1531. 


254 


THE  LIFE  OF  8EBAHTIAN  CABOT. 


1,  r 


following  year,  the  Council  of  tho  Indies  sentenrod  lij,,, 
to  two  years'  exile  at  Oriin  for  excesses  coniiniltcd  in  the 
course  of  iii^  voyage.*  liut  as  wo  have  a  letter  of  liis  from 
Seville  dated  Juno  25,  1533,  by  which  it  appears  tluit  lie 
was  in  full  freedom,  wo  must  conclude  that  the  sentence  was 
reviewed,  or  tho  Emperor  must  have  intervened  to  slioiteu 
the  punishniient.  This  letter  of  Cabot's  is  directed  to  .Inun  de 
Samano  the  Emperor's  secretary.  Leaving  for  anotluu'  iilaco 
what  can  bo  better  said  elsewhere,  we  shall  only  say  of  it  hero 
what  concerns  the  present  period.  Severe  fainiiy  nfliictions 
were  added  to  tliose  of  the  expedition  and  prosecution.  Writ- 
ing to  Samano,  Cabot  excuses  himself  for  delay  in  disciiiU';,'in<,' 
a  certain  commission  from  Samano,  on  account  of  the  dcuth 
of  his  daughter,  and  his  wife's  illness,  and  begs  him  to  w  rite  to 
the  Council  of  the  Indies  urging  tho  payment  of  a  third  part 
of  his  salary  in  advance,  .so  that  he  may  discharge  the  debts 
which  detain  him  at  Seville.f 

This  is  the  last  mention  that  can  be  found  of  any  child  (if 
Cabot's  ;  and  from  his  manner  of  expressing  himself,  it  would 
seem  that  he  was  speaking  of  an  only  daughter.  There  can 
be  no  doubt  but  tiiat  the  poor  girl  and  her  mother  were  vic- 
tims of  the  suffering  cau.sed  by  his  afflictions.  The  mother 
was  taken  ill,  tho  daughter,  more  tender  and  affectionate, 
sealed  with  her  life  tho  share  she  took  in  her  father's  s()rr()\v.s. 
Nor  could  his  own  strong  fibre  resist  all  these  blows  ;  hut  he 
also  fell  sick. :{: 


■  :1 


The  notice  referred  to  in  the  Memorial  which  tlie  CDuncil  of  the  Indies 
sent  to  the  Emperor  Charlis  V.  iiniier  date  of  May  16,  1531.  "Matida  V.  M. 
que  le  hiigiimos  sahur  la  cabsa  de  la  prision  de  Sebastian   Caboto.    El  fue 

preso y  duda  la  corte  por  carcel  con  Jiamas." — Navarrele,  Colecc. 

T.   v.,  p.  383. 

*  Navarrete,  BibUoteca  Maritima.  T.  ii,  p.  699.  I  take  this  citation  from 
Harrisse,  not  having  been  able  to  get  Navarreie's  text. 

f'SeBor  snplico  a  viiestra  merced  me  aga  merced  deescrivira  estos  Sefiores 
oflciales  de  la  casa  de  contratacion  que  me  socorran  con  «n  tercio  (1(!  my 
salario  adelantado  para  que  me  pueda  desempechar  de  aqui  .  .  .  .  "  See  App. 
xlii. 

X  "  Snplico  a  vuestra  merced  me  perdone  por  no  averla  acabado  mas  presto 
yten  verdad  sino  fui  la  por  la  muerte  de  mi  hija  y  por  la  dolencia  de  my 
muger  y  mya  dias  ha  que  vuestra  merced  la  hizera  recebido  .  ..."  lb. 


CABOT'a  WIFE. 


255 


atiou  from 


A  break  in  the  first  sentence  of  the  letter  sliows  tlie  woi^litof 
grief  under  which  his  heart  was  groaning.  It  runs  thu9:"()n  the 
feust  of  the  glorious  St.  J(»l)n  I  received  a  letter  from  the  Ade- 
laiittulo  of  the  Canaries,  fron-  which  it  seems  to  me  lh;it  he  still 
has  a  desire  to  undertake  an  expedition  to  the  Punmn  River," 
at  this  name  he  adds,  "wJiich  coat  mc  no  dear."*  Hut  if  the  evils 
he  endured  were  irreparahle,  it  must  still  have  heen  a  great 
comfort  to  him  to  see  the  government  and  private  individuals 
turning  to  him  again,  after  making  him  undergo  such  great 
humi'.'ation,  recognizing  the  superiority  of  his  gcmius  and 
knowledge  over  those  of  all  others.  For  that  Adelantado  ai)])lit'd 
to  him  for  advice  concerning  his  intended  expedition,  and  Sa- 
mano  liad  made  a  request  of  him  for  a  map;  and  Cabot  answers 
him  that  he  has  finished  it  already  and  has  two  more  prepared, 
one  for  the  Emperor  and  the  other  for  the  members  of  the 
Council  of  the  Indies,  f 

Before  proceeding  further,  justice  requires  us  to  pause 
here  to  take  our  last  farew  dl  of  Catharine  Medrano,  Sebastian 
Cabot's  brave  wife.  V/hoshe  was,  o>'  what  nation  or  country, 
and  when  married  to  Cabot,  is  all  alike  unknown.  Rut  her 
name  and  surname  indicate  a  Spaniard,  at  least  by  descent. 
The  first  time  her  name  appears  is  in  a  document  of  the  date 
of  October  25, 1525,  by  which  Cabot  obtained  that  a  life  annu- 
ity of  25,000  maravedis  payable  to  him  should  be  tran.sferred 
to  her  for  her  life,  in  case  of  his  death  daring  the  expeditiou  he 
was  then  preparing. ;}:  It  appears  again  indirectly  in  the  suit 
brought  against  her  husband,  and  this  brief  appearance  shows 

■  "rt'ct'bl  una  carta  d<l  a'lelantado  de  canaria  por  lu  qiial  me  pareoe  qH(!t'>- 
davia  tiene  gana  de  tomar  la  emprtsa  dil  rio dc  parauu  que  taiito  nic  questa.  " 
lb. 

f"  Serior  la  carta  que  vucstra  inerced  mc  en  vio  a  mandar  quo  yriesc  ya  lu  tengo 
acabaiiii con  otias  tlos  que  tengo  feclio  para  su  magestad " 

t  Cedula  de  Toledo  25  oclohrc  1535, 

Porquanto  C-'altnto  iia  rtiiunciado  en  Catalina  Meilrano  su  nuiirer  los  25,000  de 
811  ayuda  de  rosta,  suplicando  que  como  el  los  teiua  por  su  vida,  los  iroce  ella 
piir  la  suya  delta  :  "  por  que  si  dios  fuese  servido  que  el  niuriese  en  cl  viaje  e 
aimaiia  qiieacora  liace  por  nuestro  mandato  i  en  nuestro  servieio  al  desenltri- 
Diiento  de  las  islas  de  Tarsis  e  Ofir  e  al  Catayo  oriental,  tenga  su  nuiger  eso 
para  manlenerse."Asi  se  niamla. 

M.  S.  di  Mufios  :  Itidiaa,  1524-1535-1526-77— Est.  23  gr.  fol.  165. 


256 


THE  LIFE  OF  SEBASTIAN  CABOT. 


her  to  have  been  a  woman  most  attached  to  the  glory  and  in- 
terest  of  licr  hasband,  an  active,  resolute,  and  powerful  assist- 
ant in  his  work,  a  feared  and  fearful  enemy  to  his  enemies.  It 
is  they  that  drag  her  name  into  public  now  and  then,  and  cer- 
taiu'y  }iot  for  eulogistic  purposes.  But  under  the  exaggerutiuu 
of  passion  and  enmity  there  is  clearly  defined  a  strong  woman's 
chanictor,  worthy  of  the  man  to  whom  she  was  united.  W'c 
have  seen  tliat  Vafl(|aez  ii^  the  fifth  interrogatory  of  lur 
proofs  not  only  accuses  Medrano  equally  with  her  husband  uf 
enmity  against  her  (Vasque//s)son,  but  charges  Catharine  with 
em})loying  persors  to  kill  him,  and  ends  by  accusing  Cahut 
of  being  ruled  l)y  liis  wife's  opinion  and  only  doing  as  slie 
wishes.*  Altliough  none  of  the  witnesses  confirms  the  (•hart,'c 
of  tlie  attempted  murder,  as  to  her  busying  herself  with  lur 
husband's  aliairs,  and  his  acquiescence  in  her  counsel  and  pro- 
posals, all  but  one,  who  says  he  knows  notliing  about  it,  agree 
in  testifying  alfirmatively,  according  to  their  judgment  of 
what  they  had  often  seen  at  his  house.f 

As  the  passion  and  bitter  enmity  that  had  been  aroused 
against  Cal>ot  becime  calmed,  reason  gradually  resumed  her 
rights  and  public  opinM).i  rendered  a  juster  judgment  on  the 
oad  result  of  his  expedition.  A  proof  of  it  is  that  Gomnra, 
whol'ke  all  the  other  Hpanisli  lijstorians  makes  room  in  iiis 
narrative  for  the  charges  against  him  witliout  a  word  in  his 
defence  or  justification,  when  speaking  of  the  unfortunate 
termination  of  the  expedition  expresses  liimself  in  these 
words  :  "  Not  .so  n)U(d!,  as  some  say,  through  his  fault  as  the 
fault  of  the  men  he  Iiad  with  him.";}:        These  words,  in  thoir 


*  "Yteri  jisaben  que  .  . .  .<'!  nicli.isohaatiiin  civhoto  y  la  diclmrntalinailrnv- 

ilraiKi  su  iiiumT le  tomurun  unuKt  odio  y  fiicmistaii  !il  (iiciui  inarliii 

""-'"•'■^^ •-'  ii""  'ii  •liolia  <-iitivlii:a  (in  mednvno  niandava  que  h  inaiasni 

e  aiisi  lo  ilixo  c  rogo  a  v'i'i-nw  persi>r)as  e  si  sih.'n  (jucl  diciio  schasiiaii  caii'it  > 
.se  Tint'  y  govicriia  \v.r  ,\  |)arus9i)r  du  la  diclia  oatuliiia  de  'nedrano  y  ii.i  iuiM 
mas  d»3  1<)  qiu'lLi  qiiitiv," 

+  For  Hk;  salic  of  hrcvify  I  oitc  nnly  tlie  words  of  tl-.c  ,<nventh  witiu'ss- 
"fste  ti'Stii^'o  vio  alL'iinas  vooi-s  cm  sait  liioar  df;  biirrameda  (nio  ia  (iiclia 
ana  dc  mcdnmo  Iiazia  <•  di-zia  ant"  dicho  sel>astian  cabot  >  tndo  lo  qin;  (imria 
I!  p"r  bicn  tenia  sin  que!  »li<liu  scliaKfinn  oaboto  le  fiiese  a  la  ninno  y  v\h 
niandava  y  hazia  lo.juc  qneria  libnnieiitc" 

t  "No  laiito.a  lo  que  alijunoa  diceii,  por  su  culpa,  cotuo  por  ladcsugente," 
—Can.  Ix.xxix. 


A  CllITICISM  OF  CABOT. 


257 


briefness,  seeing  by  whom  they  were  said,  and  in  what  state  of 

animosity  towards   Cabot,  may  ahnost  be  regarded  as  a  full 

I  jusdlication  in  tlie  judgment  of  the  Spanish  people.   As  to  the 

goveriiineut,  it  sutiiccs  to  say  tliat  it  restored  him  completely 

loiiisrankof  chief  Pilot,  and  not  only  continued  to  have  con- 

I  slant  recourse  to  his  work,  but  when  he  wanted  to  leave  Spain 

i  for  England,  it  made  great  efforts  to  prevent  him  and  to  force 

!  him  to  remain. 

But  can  History,  at  whose  tribunal  men  must  answer  not 
only  for   their    intentions,     their    actions,   and    the    lion- 
f<ty  of   their    purposes,    but    also   for    involuntary    crroi-s, 
and  for  insufficient    strength    for   the  weight  of   the   load 
I  voluntarily  assumed,  which  according  i  >  the  success  or  fail- 
I  me  of  every  thing  condemns  the  deliberations  of  prudence  or 
[applauds  the  audacity  of  presumption  ;  can  history  declare 
Si'bastian  Cabot  free  from  all  blame  in  the  pit  he  fell  into  and 
ruined  his  undertaking  ?  In  the  absence  of  sufficient  data  on 
ffjiich  to  base  a  decision,  an  unconditioned  answer  is  not  pos- 
jsibie.     But  from  what  we  know  it  would  not  be  a  rash  judg- 
ment to  incline  to  the  negative.    His  position  was  certainly  a 
fearful  one  in  face  of  the  rebellion  of  his  own  otliduu's,  l)ut  the 
very  fact  that  he  was  able  to  inflict  on  them  a  most  severe 
I  chastisement  without  any  one  rising  in  their  defence,  shows  us 
liiat  Ids  authority  was  still  feared  and  respected,  notwithstand- 
ing thri  great  disorder  among  the  ships.  The  revolt  of  the 
crews  on  those  early  expeditions,  whether  from  fear  or  any 
I  other  cause,  was  often  repeated  ;   and  it  is  no  little  glory  for 
heir  leaders  to  have  held  tliem  to  the  bit  and  compelled 
tiieiii,  though  restive,  to  submit  to  the  fresli  labors  and  dan- 
i  gtrs  of  the  voyage.  Who  does  not  remember  the  revolt  on  the 
ships  against  Christopher  Columbus  ?      But  he  suppressed  it, 
;  and  a  few  days  after  his  men  would  have  rid  themselves  of  him 
t)y  murder,  they  were  kneeling  about  him  begging  his  piu-don, 
and  applauding  his  firmness  and  genius.   Did  not  Magellan's 
men  also  rebel  against  him?  And  it  was  a  very  different  revolt 
frmn  that  against  Cabot.  He  was  not  like  Cabot  on  a  way 
I  already  tried,  but  on  one  entirely  new  ;  the  cold  was  intense, 
the  scarcity  of  food  fearful,  the  sea  constantly  in  storm,  the  sail- 

17 


! 

258 


THE  LIFE  OF  SEBASTIAN  CABOT. 


ors  wan  with  fright,  and  the  captains  not  less  than  their  men. 
But  he  was  deaf  to  their  entreaties,  their  remonstrances,  and 
their  threats  ;  when  he  perceived  that  they  were  about  to  pro- 
ceed to  open  violence,  he  fell  like  lightnijig  on  the  chiefs  and 
hy  the  severit}'  of  the  example  maintained  his  authority,  and 
ho  won.       Not  by  this  do  I  mean  to  approve,  still  less  to  ap- 
plaud, the  extreme  measures  he  had  recourse  to  ;  I  only  mark 
the  comparison.    The  firmness  which  Cabot  showed  sui),^e- 
quently  on  the  voyage  after  he  had  deposed  Rojas  ami  Uk. 
other  two,  he  should  have  execised  from  the  first  moment 
that  the  officers  manifested  an  inclination  to  disr(\i;iir(l  liis 
authority.     It  was  a  great  mistake  to  put  aside  Martin  Mcn- 
dez  and  give  his  own  enemies  occasion  for  their  accusations ; 
a  most  serious  mistake  mortally  to  offend  a  proud  and  arro- 
gant nature  like  Rojas,  and  then  set  him  at  liberty.   The  hm 
of  the  flag-ship  was  not  his  fault,  and  it  was  this  loss  that  de- 
cided the  failure  of  the  expedition      If  Cabot's  authority  liad 
been  resolute  and  firm  throughout  the  voyage,  it  is  not  at  all 
likely  that   Rodas  would  have  guarantied  with  his  head  the 
safety  of  the  path  to  him  unknown.    Though  fever  destroyed 
his  men  in  the  Bay  of  Saint  Catharine,  and  left  plentiful  seed 
for  more  deaths,  do  we  hazard  anj"^  thing  in  su]-»posing  tliat  the 
bad  humor  creeping  through  the  fleet  made  them  |:rolong  un- 
necessarily their  stay  in  that  place  to  complete  the  work,  tlius 
leaving  a  greater  chance  for  sickness  ?  On  the  other  hand,  he 
seems  to  me  great  in  all  his  conduct  after  he  had  decided  at 
the  Bay  of  Saint  Catherine  to  remain  on  the  Plata  and  devote 
all  his  energy  to  the  exploration  of  that  river.      The  strugf^li 
he  had  to  endure  was  such  as  to  overcome  and  crush  a  less 
firm  and  resolute  mind  ;  and  his  energy  which  death  could 
not  subdue  with  the  fear  of  all  perishing  together,  nor  desper- 
ate hunger  in  unknown  and  deserted  places,  nor  the  loss  of 
all  hope  of  aid  or  succor,  this  energy  is  truly  admirable  and 
deserves  to  he  counted  among  the  most  splendid  instances  of 
indomitable   constancy.       But   although    Cabot  was  a   real 
hero  after  the  battle  had  begun,  ho  does  not  seem  to  me  to  show 
equal  prudence  and   energy  in  leading  and  governing  his 
forces  prior  to  the  battle. 


KIO  DE  LA  PLATA  NOT  NAMED  BY  CABOT. 


259 


But  in  judging  without  having  full  knowledge  of  the  case, 
1  run  a  risk  of  offending  no  less  against  Sebastian  Cabot "s 
memory  than  against  history.  It  is  best  then  to  resume  the 
rourse  of  our  narration. 

But  before  w4iolIy  leaving  the  Plata,  it  is  our  duly  to 
ili'fciid  ('ubot  against  another  accusation  weighing  on  his 
Itad.  By  many  writers  it  is  said  and  believed  that  the 
liver,  first  called  from  the  name  of  its  discoverer  the  River  of 
Sulis,  *  received  its  new  name  of  Rio  de  la  Plata,  wliich 
meaus  River  of  Silver,  from  Cabot,  that  he  was  deceived  by 
<ome  specimens  of  that  metal  which  ho  saw  in  possession  of 
iho  natives,  and  was  thereby  led  to  believe  that  he  had 
arrived  in  regions  very  rich  in  silver.  Not  to  multiply  quo- 
tations I  will  merely  give  the  words  of  Lardner  in  his  Cijiio- 
limlia:  "Cabot  in  the  meantime,  contrived  to  send  home 
|[  tnlhe  Emperor  an  account  of  his  proceedings,  and  as  he  had 
found  ai)iong  the  savages  of  the  interior  some  ornaments  of 
gold  and  silver,  which  ho  easily  obtained  in  exchange  for  var- 
ious trinkets,  he  took  advantage  of  this  slender  circumstance  to 
ppresent  the  country  as  ahonndivg  in  those  metals  ;  and  in  con- 
formity Avith  his  description,  he  gave  the  river  the  name  of  La 
i'int(i"-f  Tliis  charge,  repeated  by  many,  is  without  founda- 
tion of  any  kirivl.  Biddlo  remarks  that  according  to  Goivara 
and  Hakluytit  was  the  discoverer  De  Solis  himself  who  gave 
ilmt  name  of  T^a  Plata  to  the  river,  having  fallen  into 
the  error  vvhich  others  have  tried  to  impute  to  Cabot.  ;}; 
According  to  Herrera,  however,  the  name  was  given  by  the 
Spiiniardf'!  to  tho  river  on  account  of  some  pieces  of  silver 
wliidi  Diego  Garcia  brought  from  there,  because  it  was  the 


*"elrio,qneentontesllaniaran  de  Soils,  y  aora  de  la  Plata. "—Herrera,  Dec. 
ii  lib.  X,  tap.  i,  aud  in  another  place  :  "aviendoleprecuiitadomuchascosas  de 
Ifiiide  Soli.s,  que  dizen ih:  la  Plata."  Dec.  iv,  lib.  x,  cap.  v. 

fD.  I.anlner's,  Cyclopnedia,  vol.  ii,  p.  89. 

J  "Topo  eon  un  grandissiaio  rio  que  loa  Naturalcs  Hainan  Pamnaguara,  que 
'|uiire  (ieeir  Rio  como  Mar  o  Aqua  gninde  :  vide  en  el  niuestra  <ie  Plata,  i 
nmhrolo  de  ella.  " — Gomara,  cap.  xxxtx—"  The  first  Spaniard  Uiat  entered 
liiis  river  and  inhabited  the  s;une,  was  called  Solia,  who  passed  up  a  hundred 
hms  into  it,  and  called  it  by  the  name  of  Rio  de  la  Plata,  that  is  to  say.  The 
^^mr  of  Silver."— Mvikhxyt.  vol.  iii,  p.  788. 


•I 

I 


260 


THE  LIFE  OF  SEBASTIAN  CABOT, 


first  silver  broui^t  to  Castile  from  the  Indies.*  But  all  these 
are  contradicted  by  Francisco  de  Rojas,  the  companion  and 
enemy  of  Sebastian  Cabot,  and  his  authority  as  of  a  witness 
present  on  tlie  spot  must  prevail  over  all  others.  In  his  in- 
terrogatories, where  he  shows  that  Cabot  altered  the  purpose 
and  end  of  the  expedition  through  having  lent  too  credulous 
an  car  to  the  deceitful  words  of  the  Portuguese  at  Pernambuco, 
who  in  their  King's  interest  wished  to  divert  him  from  going 
to  tlie  Moluccas,  he  says  that  "they  told  him  tiiat  on  this  coast 
there  was  a  river  which  the  said  PortngiLesG  call  La  Pitta  and 
wc  Juan  De  Soliti,  tliat  there  was  much  silver  there  etc."! 
Cabot  then  is  guiltless  of  any  wrong  to  the  memory  of  Du 
Solis  so  far  as  regards  the  name  of  the  river  he  discovered. 
That  name,  after  all,  most  likely  had  an  altogether  pop- 
ular origin.  At  the  first  specimens  of  silver  obtained  from 
tliat  river,  the  quantity  of  the  metal  that  was  expected  to  be 
found  there  nuisl  havo  been  exaggerated,  as  usually  happens ; 
and  just  as  they  said  "Spice  Islands,  Sugar  Island,  Tobacco 
Islfuid"  from  tlie  special  [troductsof  those  islands,  and  as  they 
named  from  brazil  wood,  (Ik!  vast  region  of  that  name  in 
South  America  ;  in  like  manner  they  came  to  call  the  great 
estuary  discovered  by  Juan  De  Solis  the  River  of  Silver. 

After  these  few  indications  of  the  great  trouble  that  alliicted 
Sebastian  Cabot  on  his  return  to  Spain,  the  darkness  deepens 
around  hizn.  Wo  are  told  that  he  was  restored  to  his  position 
as  Master  of  the  pilots,  as  he  was  not  only  above  all  by 
(be  authority  of  his  rank,  but  had  no  equal  in  knowledge  of 
matters  pertaining  to  navigation  and  cosmography.  It  wa;; 
liis  great  reputation  as  surpassing  all  others  in  his  knowledge 
of  these  branches,  that  made  Ramusio's  Anonymous  eager  to 
know  and  converse  with  him  personally  :  and  Ramusio  him- 
self opened  an  epistolary  correspondence  with  him  for  his 


*"  1  a:nbj£.n  T)isso  Garcia  hiivo  alpiina  eantita<i  de  Plata  de  lis  Jndios,  desde 
double  se  llamo  pste  Rio  de  lii  Plata,  pnrqiie  file  laprimera  que  se  traxo  6.  Cas- 
tilla  (i.!  las  Jndias.  "—Dec.  iv,  lih.  i,  cup   i. 

t  "Ic  dijernn  oomo  en  aqnella  costa  avia  un  Rio  que  los  dichr>8  portocuespi 
Hainan  dt-  la  plata  e  no^intros  de  Jui.n  dc  Soils  que  en  el  avia  mucba  plati.  etc." 
—No.  7.— See  App.  xxxv. 


CABOT  IN  THE  SEin'IC'E  OF  EDV'ARD  VI. 


261 


great  collection  of  navigations  and  voyages.  In  the  discourse 
held  with  Anonymous,  Cabot  mentioned  various  othor 
voyages  which  lie  said  he  h!(,d  made  since  bis  3'eturn  from  La 
Plata,  but  what  they  were  and  in  wliat  direction  we  are  com- 
pletely ignorant.*  Nuno  De  Guzmati  doubtless  alluded 
to  one  of  these  voyages  when  he  informed  Charles  V  tliat  a 
fleet  commanded  by  Sebastian  Cabot  had  pasned  the  coast  of 
Astatlan  ;  but  uncertainty  as  to  the  date  of  his  letter  leaves  it 
impossible  to  fix  ihe  time  of  this  navigation. f  The  date  af- 
fixed to  his  Planisphere  of  1544  tells  us  that  he  was  in  Seville 
that  year.|  The  following  year,  1545,  we  find  him  employed 
together  with  Pedro  Mexio,  Alfonso  Chaves,  and  Diego  (Gu- 
tierrez to  examine  Pedro  de  Medina's  Arte  dd  Navigar.%  This 
is  the  last  date  known  of  his  residence  in  Spain. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 


Return  to  England. 

In  1548  we  find  Sebastian  Cabot  recently  returned  to  Eng- 
land. Nothing  is  told  us  of  the  reason  of  this  new  change, 
but  we  can  infer  it  with  certainty  from  what  happened  after- 
wards. The  circumstances  of  his  life  and  of  the  times  had 
withdrawn  and  for  many  years  withheld  him  fron^  his  natural 
field  of  study  and  action  ;  but  although  wholly  occupied 
with  matters  concerning  southern  seas  and  lands,  he  had  nev(;r 
wholly  diverted  his  thoughts  from  tlu;  fogs  and  frosts  of  the 
north,  wdiere  his  mind  was  first  opened  to  the  enthusiasm  of 
discovery,  and  his  heart  had  first  palpitated  with  the  deliglits 
and  sorrows  that  accompany  it.    In  Spain  he  felt  he  was  reajt- 

*  "  Feci  pni  mnlte  altre  navigation!  le  qiiali  prctermetto  ..."  — App.  xiv 

t  "Colpccion  de  Documentos  de  Indies,  t.  xiii— ().  40w— "  V.  Ilarrisst-,  Jean 
tt  .''elmstien  Gabot,  p.  125. 

t  "  Sebastian  Cahoto  canitan  v  pil  ito  tviavor  <ie  la  H  pc.  m.  (i<il  Iniperator 
don  Carlos  ....  bizo  esta  fliriini ....  anno  de  J.  C.  de  M.  D.  xliiii." 

g  American  Exposition  Catalogue,  B.  53. 


Ill 


m^ 


!f  '■! 


262 


THE  LIFE  OF  SEBASTIAN  CABOT. 


ing  where  others  had  reaped  before,  whil     in  the  northern  seas 
the  glory  was  all  his  own  :  he  had  first  pun. I '  l  out  and  oponod 
to  others  the  way  thither.    How  often,  after  long  hours  of 
study  and  labor  on  the  seas  and  navigations  of  the  south 
must  his  wearied  mind  have  flown  to  those  of  the  north,  rest- 
ing from  its  fatigue  by  stopping  to  meditate  on  the  putli  tlie 
ship  might  find  in  that  direction  !  The  only  state  tliat  could 
lend  him  aid  for  the  undertaking  was  England  :  aiul  the 
stormy  reign  of  Henry  VIII  turned  all  minds  to  other  thou},'hts 
than  of  navigation  and  discovery.      The  disorders  of  that 
government  must  have  come  to  Cabot's  cars  unv  soanded 
worse  than  they  actually  were,  as  Spain  was  directly  injured  by 
that  King's  madness  ;  for  his  repudiated  wife  was  a  Spaniard 
and  aunt  to  Charles  V,  and  there  was  more  living  and  j,feneral 
zeal  for  the  Catholic  Religion  in  Spain  than  in  any  ether 
country.  It  is  then  easy  to  imagine  what  must  have  been  said 
at  the  court  and  throughout  the  Kingdon  of  Spain  concern- 
ing so  many  wives  married  and  divorced,  so  .many  learned 
and  holy    men  given   into  the  hangman's  hands,  and  the 
scandals  of  every  nature  which  at  that  time  afflicted  England, 
But  in  1547  Henry  VIII  died,  and  the  new  reign  of  Ed- 
ward VI  seemed  from  its  commencement  to  be  the  dawn  of  a 
new  era  for  the  English  Marine.  The  English  had  never  given 
up  the  intention  of  pushing  to  the  north-west  by  some  way 
that  would  give  them  a  passage  to  the  eastern  regions  of 
Cathay,  and  they  had  made  several  attempts.    Thus  in  1527 
two  ships  sailed  with  supplies  of  every  thing  needed  ;  but  the 
expedition  was  unable  to  get  beyond  53°  N.  L.  :  one  ship  was 
lost  and  the  other  returned  without  achieving  any  imnortant 
result.    In  1536,  another  expedition  sailed,  but  this  was  more 
unfortunate  than  the  former,  and  left  no  trace  of  itself  beyond 
the  memory  of  the  famine  suffered  and  the  horrors  that  fol- 
lowed it.  *     To  give  a  strong  impulse  to  the  new  expeditions 
that  were  thought  of,  the  bad  result  of  such  expeditions  having 
destroyed  the  courage  of  English  sailors  to  put  their  skill  a- 
gain  to  the  proof,  a  man  was  needed  who  would  be  able  to  re- 


*  Hakluyt,  iii,  129— Purchas,  iii,  809. 


i 


CABOT  IN  THE  SERVICE  OF  EDWARD  VI. 


263 


store  courage  and  by  confidence  in  his  own  ability  inspire 
confidence  in  the  heart  of  others.  This  man  for  Engkmd 
couUl  only  be  Sebastian  Cabot. 

From  a  royal  ordinance  of  October  9,  1547,  it  seems  that 
steps  to  secure  Cabot's  return  to  England  were  taken  in  the 
first  year  of  King  Edward's  reign,  and  that  an  a -^reeraent  was 
had.  By  that  the  King  orders  the  payment  of  a  certain 
"amount  for  bringing  Cabot  to  England."  *  The  mistake  in 
transcribing  the  name  throws  no  doubt  on  Sebastian  Cabot's 
being  the  pilot  that  was  asked  for  and  expected.  But  his  de- 
parture from  Spain  must  have  undergone  unlooked-for  delay, 
for  a  new  decree  of  King  Edward  gives  us  to  understand  that 
Sebastian  was  not  in  England  till  towards  the  end  of  1548. 
This  decree  is  of  January  6,  1549,  and  by  it  the  King,  after 
setting  forth  the  services  theretofore  rendered  by  Sebastian 
Cabot  to  England,  and  those  then  anticipated,  establishes  in 
his  favor,  for  the  term  of  his  natural  life,  an  annuity  of  one 
hundred  and  sixty-six  pounds  sterling,  thirteen  shillings,  and 
four-pence,  and  orders  the  payment  to  date  back  from  the 
fcast  of  St.  Michael,  Archan^^el,  of  the  previous  year,  that  is, 
from  September  29,  1548.+  The  day  from  which  the  pension 
began  to  run,  indicates,  as  it  seems  to  me,  the  date  of  Se- 
bastian's arrival  in  England.  As  to  the  amount  of  the  pension 
granted  him,  it  should  be  observed  that  it  would  be  very  mean 
if  taken  at  the  present  value  of  money,  but  in  Hakluyt's  opin- 
ion, and  he  wrote  soon  after  the  fact,  it  had  a  very  generous 
appearance  in  those  days.":}: 

*  "  October  9th,  1547. 

"Mr.  Peckliam  had  warrant  for  100  li  for  the  transporting  of  one  Shabot  a 
Pili)t  to  come  out  of  Hispain  to  serve  and  inhabit  in  England.  "  Extract  from 
tbe  minutes  of  the  Privy  C  )uncil  of  Edward  VI. 

f'Etulterius  de  uberiori  gratia  nostra  ac  de  advisamento  et  consensu 
piaeilictis  damus  et  per  praeseutes  concediinus  proefato  Sebaatiano  Cabotfe,  tot 
et  lautas  denariorum  summas  ad  quot  et  quantas  dicta  annuitas  sive  auiialis 
reditus .  .   ....  .  a  festo  Sancti  Micliaelis  Archangeli  ultimo  prajterito  Imc 

usque  se  exteadit  et  attiogit  habeudaaet  recipiendasj "-    V.   App. 

xlv. 

I  lu  the  Dedication  of  the  first  volume  of  his  enlarged  work  to  Lord  Charles 
Howard,  High  Admiral  of  England,  lb.  "King  Edward  the  sixth  .  .  .  advanced 
tbe  worthy  and  excellent  Sebastian  Caboto  to  be  graud  Pilot  of  EnglaM, 


It 


2  ft  * 


tHE  LIi='E  OF  SEBASTIAN  CABOT. 


,.J 


%:-■ 


What  negotiations  and  agreements  passed  between  thcKnc. 
liali  government  and  Cabot  we  know  not.  It  is  generally  said 
on  Hakluyt's  authority,  that  Sebastian  was  appointed  Gniinl 
Pilot  of  England;  *  but  Biddle  labors  to  show  by  many  aivii- 
ments  that  this  office  was  not  instituted  till  afterwards.f  Um 
as  his  doubt  concerns  the  form  not  the  substance  of  the  mat- 
ter, for  he  rather  believes  that  the  authority  given  to  Cabot 
was  greater  than  that  afterwards  conferred  upon  those  who  ob- 
tained the  high  position  of  grand  Pilot,  it  suffices  simply  to 
mention  a  (question  which  may  be  of  interest  for  the  general 
history  of  the  English  marine,  but  is  of  no  material  importance 
for  the  special  history  of  Sebastian  Cabot. 

Under  whatever  title,  then,  he  was  restored  to  the  Enj^lish 
service,  there  is  no  question  but  what  he  held  a  very  liigli 
rank  in  it.  And  what  authority  his  counsel  and  jud^nnentat 
once  acquired  is  shown  by  the  instance  of  James  Alday,  who 
had  presented  a  certain  plan  of  his  for  a  voyage  to  the  east, 
and  obtained  the  necessary  approval  of  the  king  ;  but  Sebas- 
tian Cabot  giving  an  adverse  opinion,  the  license  was  with- 
drawn, as  Alday  himself  mournfully  relates  X  Purchas,  from 
an  inscription  which  he  found  on  a  portrait  of  Sebastian 
Cabot  in  the  royal  palace  of  Whitehall,  supposed  that  he  had 
been  knighted,  and  on  this  presumption  in  the  course  of  his 
work  gives  him  the  title  of  Sir.  The  inscription  read  :  Ejji- 
gies  Schastiani  Cahoti  angli,  filii  Joannis  Cahoti  militis  aurati.  § 
True,  militis  aurati  might  be  referred  to  tlie  father  as  well  as  to 
tiie  son,  but  to  decide  between  them,  it  is  far  more  likely  that 
the  honor  was  conterredon  the  son,  "s  Purchas  interpreted  it. 
and  that  he  obtained  it  just  at  this  tnne  when  he  returned  to 
tlie  service  of  England  with  the  fame  of  the  services  rendered 
to  Spain.  But  Biddle  denies  that  the  honor  was  conferred  on 


allowing  Mm  a  most  bountifull  pension  of  166  li.  VI  s.  VIII  d.  by  the  yecre 
(luiiughis  life." 

*  See  preceding  note. 

t  Memoir,  bk.  i,  ch.  15,  p.  176,  and  Appendix,  p.  311. 

i"....tlie  very  truetli  is  that  I  was  from  tlie  same  voyage  lestedby  thePrinPt'j 
letters,  which  ray  master,  sebastiaii  Gabota  had  obtained  for  that  purpose  to  my 
great  griefe.  "  —  Hakluyt,  vol.i,  part.ii,  p.  463. 

§  Purchas,  vol.  iv,  p.  1813. 


Cabot's  position  in  the  English  service. 


2C5 


him,  and  maintains  by  many  examples  of  the  expression  that 
was  usual  in  those  times,  that  it  would  have  been  efpntia  an- 
rati  and  not  militis*  But  whether  he  was  knighted  or  not, 
Sebastian  Cabot  had  now  risen  to  such  greatness,  that  he 
could  have  gained  or  lost  nothing  by  it.  It  would  not  do, 
however,  to  omit  all  mention  of  it  in  his  history. 

Tlie  pressing  insistanee  of  Spain  to  get  Sebastian  Cabot 
back  shows  clearly  that  his  departure  was  unexpected, 
iind  that  he  only  discovered  himself  when  he  felt  safe  on  Eng- 
Hsh  soil.  And  it  is  easy  to  understand  that  this  fact  must 
have  produced  a  very  painful  impression  in  Spain  ;  for  the 
tirst  thought  to  arise  in  the  mind  of  every  one  would  be 
that  the  entrance  of  the  Grand  Pilot  into  the  service  of 
England  was  connected  with  some  maritime  expedition 
that  was  contemplated,  and  it  was  for  Spain's  best  interest  to 
retain  control  as  long  as  she  could  of  the  new  routes  of  co;..- 
inerce.  And  an  enterprise  led  by  Cabot  for  the  account  of  an- 
other Power  was  fraught  with  all  the  more  danger  from  his 
being  privy  to  all  the  maritime  and  commercial  secrets  of 
Spain.  No  one,  then,  will  blame  her  for  being  suspicious  of 
this  sudden  defection  of  her  Grand  Pilot  and  fearing  every 
thing.  But  let  us  hasten  to  say  at  once  that  among  all  the 
charges  so  freely  brought  against  Cabot  by  Spanish  historians, 
there  was  never  the  slightest  allusion  to  his  having  given  any 
reason  to  believe  that  ho  was  wanting  in  the  delicacy  due  to 
the  ofBce  he  had  held. 

As  soon  a3  Spain  knew  that  the  Grand  Pilot  had  left,  slie 
maJo  a  strong  appeal  to  the  English  government  to  order  his 
immediate  return.  The  appeal  was  made  through  Sir  Thomas 
Cheyne  and  Sir  Philip  Hoby,  who  were  on  a  mission  for  Eng- 
land to  Charles  V  at  Brussels.  Through  them  the  Emperor 
on  the  25th  of  November,  1549,  asked  England  to  send  Se- 
bastian Cabot,  because  he  "...  .  is  a  v  (erie)  necessary  man 
for  the  emperour  whose  servaunt  he  is  (and)  hath  a  pencion  of 
him  .  .  .  "  t  That  Cabot  on  entering  the  service  of  England 
gave  up  his  emoluments  in  Spain  is  obvious  and  natural. 


*  Bkldle,  bk.  i,  p.  181. 


t  See  App.  xlvJii. 


''^^^^f 


,,ii' 


266 


THE  LIFE  OF  SEBASTIAN  CABOT. 


But  from  the  Emperor's  words  it  is  seen  that  Spiiin  had  not 
rtcceptod  his  resignation,  but  regarded  him  lis  still  in  her  ser- 
vice and  pay.  This  is  more  clearly  shown  by  the  fact  tl-.at 
the  chair  of  cosmography  in  the  Casa  de  Contrataciun  ut  So- 
ville  being  vacated  by  his  departure,  no  succossor  was 
apponited,  but  the  pilot  Alonzo  de  Chavas  was  employed  to  till 
it  during  his  absence  in  England.  *  It  is  quite  clour  that  tlie 
Emperor  had  understood  tluit  the  quitting  of  his  service  was 
entirely  the  work  of  England,  and  therefore  in  requesting  di- 
rectly from  her  the  return  of  his  servant  and  stipendiary, 
he  sought  to  force  her  to  send  him  back  her.self.  But  crafty 
as  the  Spanish  astuteness  was  in  pushing  forward  and  com- 
promising England,  it  was  met  by  equal  skill  on  her  part  in 
drawing  back  and  sheltering  herself.  The  answer  to  the  im- 
perial request  was  sent  to  Sir  Philip  Hoby  who  remained  as 
English  Ambassador  in  Flanders.  It  was  dated  at  Greenwich 
April  21,  1550,  and  ran  thus  :  "And  as  for  Sebastian  Cabot, 
answere  was  first  made  to  the  said  Ambassador  that  ho  was 
not  deteined  heere  by  us,  but  that  he  of  himself  refused  to  go 
either  into  Spayne,  or  to  the  Emperor,  and  that  he  being  of 
that  mind  and  the  King's  subjecte,  no  reason  nor  equitie 
wolde  that  he  shude  be  forced  or  compelled  to  go  against  iiis 
will.  Upon  the  which  answere  the  said  Ambassador  said, 
that  if  this  were  Cabot's  answere,  then  he  required  that 
the  said  Cabot,  in  the  presence  of  some  one  whom  we  coud 
appoint,  might  speke  with  the  said  Ambassador,  and  declare 
unto  him  this  to  be  his  mind  and  answere.  Whereunto  we 
condescended,  and  at  the  last  sent  the  said  Cabot  with  Rich- 
ard Shelley  to  the  Ambassador,  that  he  was  not  minded  to  go 
neither  into  Spayne  nor  '  o  the  Emperor.  Nevertheless  having 
knowledge  of  certein  things  verie  necessarie  for  the  Emperor's 
knowledge,  he  was  well  contented  for  the  good  will  he 
here  the  Emperor  to  write  his  minde  unto  him,  or  declare 
the  same  here  to  anie  such  as  shude  be  appointed  to  here 


*  "  Se  le  niiuido  regentar  la  Catedra  de  Cosmografia,  que  Sebastian  caboto 
ausente  en  la  Inglaterra,  habia  ensefiado  en  la  Casa  de  Contratacion  de  Se- 
villa."— Navarrete,  Bibl.  Marit,  lib.  ii,  p.  16. 


CABOT  REFUSES  TO  GO  BACK  TO  SPAIN. 


267 


him.  Whoreunto  the  said  Ambassador  askod  the  said  Ca- 
bot, ill  case  the  kiu;^^'s  Mujostie  or  wo  shude  coiumaiul  him 
logo  to  the  Emperor,  vvhttcr  then  he  wold  not  do  it  ;  whcro- 
unto  Cii)>ot  mad  ansvvore,  as  Shelley  rcportethe,  that  if 
the  Kind's  Ili^hnes  or  wo  did  command  him  so  to  do,  then 
hi'  knew  weli  nou^he  what  had  to  do.  Hut  it  semets  that  the 
Ainbiissiidor  tooke  liis  answoro  of  Cabot  to  sound  as  though 
Ciibol  iiad  answi'rcd,  that  boin^  (;omanded  by  the  J\ing'a 
Hi}j;lnR's  or  us,  that  then  he  wolde  be  contented  to  go  to  the 
Emperor,  wherein  we  rekon  the  said  Ambassador  to  bo 
(loceivod,  so  that  he  was  fullie  determined  not  to  there  at  all." 
Till)  Letter  is  to  be  found  among  the  Ilarley  MSS.  * 

Tliat  there  was  an  agrecMnent  with  Cabot  how  ho  should 
act, so  as  to  succeed  in  their  plan  without  giving  the  Emperor 
an\  ;;rounds  for  a  justifiable  complaint  against  England,  is  evi- 
dent from  the  concluding  words  of  the  ministers  to  the  J'^ng- 
lisii  representative,  where  they  confidently  give  the  true  mean- 
ing to  the  ambiguous  words  of  Cabot,  "then  he  knew  well 
enough  what  he  had  to  do.  "  But  this  did  not  cause  Spain 
togiVc  up  all  thought  of  getting  him  back,  anri'we  find  the  Em- 
peror on  September  9, 1553,  making  another  al tempt,  writing 
for  the  purpose  to  Mary  Tudor,  who  had  suc( fcded  her  brother 
Edward  on  the  throne  of  England.  But  the  tone  of  this  letter 
is  quite  difFerent  from  that  of  the  one  of  November  25,  1540. 
This  time  the  emperor  does  not  insi.st  as  master,  but  asks  the 
Queen  of  England  as  a  favor  to  give  Sebastian  Cabot,  formerly 
Pilot  of  the  Spanish  realms,  now  removed  to  and  residing 
in  England  with  the  consent  and  approval  of  the  King  of  Spain, 
permission  to  come  to  him  as  he  has  need  to  communicate 
with  him  concerning  some  matters  affecting  the  safety  of  the 
navigation  of  the  Spanish  realms,  f  The  previous  letter  of 
1549  shows  whether  the  Emperor  spoke  truthfully  or  not, 
when  he  asserted  that  Cabot  had  removed  to  England  with  the 
consent  and  approval  of  the  King  of  Spain;  but  by  this  euphemism 
(he  Emperor  defended  his  self-lovo  which  had  been  hurt  by 
Cabot's  flight  and  his  refusal  to  return. ;}:      But  this  attempt 


if. 


'•1"i:;'' 


*No.  523,  .iT-f,  3.— Biddle,  p.  175.      f  A.pp.  xlviii.      J  Harrisse,  p.  863,  n. 


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THE  LIFE  OP  SEBASTIAN  CABOT. 


was  no  more  successful  than  the  other,  and  Cabot  did  not  stir 
from  England.  An  invincible  rancor  against  him  was  felt  in 
Spain,  and  from  the  point  of  view  of  patriotic  sentiment,  tlim 
wore  not  to  blame.  The  Spanish  historians  arc  a  cloiir  and 
constant  evidence  of  this  ill-feeling,  for  about  this  time  and  u 
little  later,  they  speak  of  him  and  of  the  share  ho  had  in  the 
voyages  and  discoveries  of  Spain,  in  terms  through  which  tran- 
spires, as  we  have  elsewhere  observed,  that  animosity  wliiili 
usually  hides  or  veils  the  undeniable  merit  of  our  enemies, 
while  on  the  contrary  exaggerating  their  defects,  throwing  into  1 
shadow  the  attenuating  circumstance?  and  justifications. 

In  the  record  of  privy  expenses  of  King  Edward  there  are  I 
found  entered  under  the  year  1550,  two  hundred  pounds  ster- 
ling in  favor  of  Sebastian  Cabot.* 

We  know  not  why  or  for  what  purpose  this  amount  was  paid  I 
him;  perhaps  it  was  with  a  general  view  to  binding  him  more  | 
firmly  to  the  interests  of  England. 

The  next  year,  1551,  we  find  Cabot  treating  with  Venice! 
for  his  services.  Why  was  this  ?  As  the  documents  wo  possess 
do  not  inform  us,  we  can  only  look  to  the  general  circura- 
stances  of  the  time  for  some  answer  to  this  question.  First,  let  I 
us  see  how  matters  were  proceeding,  and  then  try  to  obtain  the  | 
answer  desired  from  the  general  circumstances  of  those  times. 

James  Soranzo,  Venetian  ambassador  to  England,  under] 
date  of  August  17, 1551,  communicated  to  that  Republic  cer- 
tain proposals  made  to  him  by  Sebastian  Cabot  for  raakingj 
an  expedition  in  the  name  and  under  the  flag  of  Si.  Mark, 
Soranzo's  dispatch  cannot  be  found,  but  we  have  the  reply] 
made  by  the  Ten,  dated  the  J  2th  of  the  following  September,! 
and  with  the  aid  of  this  we  may  be  able  to  restore  the  coursej 
of  things  with  tolerable  correctness.  Cabot,  then,  made  known  I 
to  Soranzo  "his  plan  of  navigation"  and  "gave  him  detailed! 


*"An  acquittiiuacc  to  tlie  Treasurer  uad  Barous  of  Thexcheker  for  tliel 
payment  of  diverse  somes  of  monie  by  the  counsailes  warrant  as  followetb,  troml 
the  feast  of  Easter  an"  4  Ed.  VI.  untill  michalmas  following  f".  CO,  etc  ToSe-\ 
bastian  Cnbote'xc'xW  byway  of  the  K.  M.  rewarde. — "M.  S.  Reg.  18  0.  XXIV- 
cited  by  J.  G.  Nichols,  Literary  Remains  of  King  Edward  VI.  T.  I,  UXXXIX] 
London,  1857. 


NEGOTIATIONS  WITH  VEXICE. 


269 


,bot  did  not  i«tir 
hi  in  was  felt  in 
sentiment,  tli('\ 
arc  a  clear  and 
this  time  and  ;i 
•e  ho  had  in  the 
lUgb  which  trau- 
miniosity  wliidi 
of  our  enemies, 
ts,  throwing  into  j 
stifications. 
Cdward  there  are  1 
[red  pounds  ster- 

amount  was  paid 
inding  him  more 

ing  with  Venice' 
Linen ts  wo  possess ! 
general  circura- 
lestion.  First, let! 
try  to  obtain  the  I 
es  of  those  times, 
nghmd,  under] 
hat  Republic  cer- 
labot  for  making  I 
lag  of  or.  Mark, 
have  the  reply] 
wing  September, 
estore  the  com'sel 
len,  made  known! 
ive  him  detailed! 


Tliexdieker  for  the! 
mtasfolloweth.froinj 

-ingf.  6G,etn.  r"'^-| 
,  Reg.  18  0.  XXIV, 
VI  T.  I.  UXXXIX 


information  concerning  himself  and  his  circumstances."  The 
irst  difficulty  to  get  over  was  to  find  a  way  for  Cabot  to  go  to 
Venice  and  explain  his  views  in  person,  without  exciting  the 
suspicion  of  England.     The  moans  devised  v/as  this.     Cabot 
waste  say  that  he  had  some  old  debts  due  to  him  at  Venice, 
imd  certain  property  which  he  wislied  to  recover  :  but  as  the 
iiti'air  would  be  very  difficult  to  transact  at  such  great  distance, 
lie  should  request  the  English  government  to  interpose  its 
good  offices  with  the  Republic  of  Venice  to  give  him  s[)ecial 
aid  to  expedite  the  affair.     It  was  so  done.     The  English 
government,  in  compliance  with  his  request,  wrote  to  its  am- 
liiissador  at  Venice,  who  was   asked  to  appear   before   the 
Council  of  Ten  and  make  the  recommendation.    One  of  the 
secretaries  of  the  council  was  John   Baptist  Ramusio,  the  fa- 
mous compiler  of  Voyages  and  Navigations,  a  personal  friend, 
through  epistolary  correspondence,  of  Sebastian  Cabot.     The 
recommendation  was  put  in  his  hands,  he  being  designated, 
it  would  seem,  by  Cabot  himself,  as  one  in  whom  he  had  full 
confidence,  and  who  would  take  an  interest  in  the  matter.  * 
Cabot  certainly   designated  the  good  Ramusio  because  he 
knew  how  zealous  ho  was  for  all  that  concerned  discovery,  and 
lie  could  safely  count  on  his  support.  Tlio  Council  of  Ten, 
warned  by  Soranzo,  answered  the  English  ambassador  that 
I  they  were  very  glad  to  learn  in  what  esteem  and  confidence  a 
subject  of  the  Republic  was  held  in  England,  and  that  they 
would  li    eager  to  satisfy  the  wishes  of  Cabot  and  the  English 
ministers.     But  at  the  same  time  they  began  to  hold  up  their 
hands,  observing  that  the  question  of  these  credits  and  prop- 
erty ran  back  more  than  half  a  century  ;  that  all  who  could 
have  told  any  thing  about  thom  were  dead,  and  no  written  rec- 
ord of  them  remained.     At  any  rate,  they  would  at  once  order 
Rarausio  to  commence  the  necessary  searches  with  all  dili- 
gence.! 


'"Delivered  to  one  of  their  secretiiries  Baptista  Ramusio,  whom  Cabot  put, 
lia trust,  such  evidences  as  came  to  liis  haiuls."  App.  1. 

1  t'They  have  comma. ided  Ramusio  to  eansuarclj  witli  diligence  any  and  all 
lEimwledgu  possible  llial  inuy  stand  to  the  said  Sebastian's  protit  and  oblaic- 
jiogut  right."  From  the  English  Ambassador's  dispalcii  communicating  to  his 
jtoTemment  the  answer  he  liad  received  from  the  council  of  Ten.  lb. 


I  .,f  .:.l,:\ 


r    .1 


mg^""^!     "   .1"      "ttmrn 


m' 


II 


270 


THE  LIFE  OF  SEBASTIAN  CABOT. 


The  eagerness  with  which  the  Council  of  Ten  conducted  the 
affai?*  proves  their  desire  of  bringing  it  to  an  end.  Tlio  same 
day  that  the  English  ambassador  presented  the  recoiumcuda- 
tion  for  Cabot  they  replied  to  the  ambassador  Soranzo.  Thoy 
first  praised  him  for  his  diligence,  and  charged  him  to  toll 
Cabot  tiiat  "  his  offer  was  most  welcome.  "  Then  referring  to 
the  excuse  devised  for  bringing  Cabot  to  Venice,  they  wrote ; 
"  And  as  to  the  question  asked  of  you  by  their  Lordships, 
about  the  credits  he  pretends  and  the  recovery  of  jjiopcrty, 
you  will  tell  them  that  we  wish  to  do  all  we  can  to  j^ratifv 
liis  Majesty  and  their  Lordships,  but  Cabot  not  being  known 
to  anyone  here,  it  will  be  necessary  for  him  to  come  himself 
to  prove  his  identity  and  his  reasons,  the  matters  of  wliicli  he 
speaks  being  very  old,  and  we  have  given  the  same  answer  to 
His  Excellency,  the  ambassador  of  his  Majesty."  And  after  urg- 
ing the  ambassador  to  exert  himself  to  have  the  permission 
given  to  Cabot  to  proceed  to  Venice  as  soon  as  possible,  thoy 
conclude  by  sajang  "you  will  continue  in  the  meantime  to 
endeavor  to  learn  from  him  in  more  detail  the  plan  of  that 
navigation,  giving  particular  information  of  the  whole  to  the 
chiefs  of  the  Council  of  Ten."  *  On  the  same  day,  Sopteml)or 
12,  the  English  ambassador  likewise  wrote  to  his  government, 
informing  it  of  the  recommendation  made,  and  the  answer 
received,  f 

These  two  letters  contain  all  the  information  we  have  in 
the  matter.  Why  did  it  fall  through  ?  and  by  whose  fault  ? 
We  are  entirely  in  the  dark,  but,  if  I  am  not  mistaken,  it  is 
easy  to  see  through  this  darkness,  and  discover  what  hap- 
pened. 

Sebastian  Cabot's  return  to  England  had  been  settled  and 
agreed  on,  as  we  saw,  as  early  as  the  Autumn  of  L547,  and 
we  find  him  in  the  following  year  in  the  service  of  England. 
That  he  went  thither  with  a  plan  fully  prepared  and  agreed 
on  for  what  he  was  expected  to  do,  is  a  thing  too  evident  to 
need  proof.  The  correspondence  with  Venice  was  not  till 
1551,  and  then  he  had  been  three  years  in  England.  During 


App.  xlix. 


t  App.  1. 


NEGOTIATIONS  WITH  VENICE. 


271 


that  time,  what  steps  had  been  taken  to  put  his  plan  in  ex- 
ecution ?  None  whatever.  He  was  just  where  he  had  bec!i 
on  his  return  to  England.  Why  wu.-i  this  ?  It  was  owing  to 
the  sad  circumstances  in  which  England  was  thon  placed. 
Did  the  future  show  on  the'  horizon  any  way  to  greater  hope  ? 
The  tutr.re  was  darker  than  the  present :  and  if  the  present 
offered  nothing,  less  still  was  to  be  expected  from  the  future. 
King  Edward  was  a  minor,  and  among  the  persons  who 
stood  nearest  to  him  and  governed  in  his  name,  there  was 
licrce  and  unrelenting  rivalry  for  power.  On  March  20, 
1549,  Thomas  Seymour,  the  King's  ancle  and  grand  admiral 
of  England,  was  dragged  to  the  scaffold  and  beheaded  ;  and  it 
nshis  brother,  the  J  i'-  of  Somerset,  the  head  of  the  Regency 
with  the  title  of  Prottotor,  who  sent  him  to  execution  out 
of  fear  of  his  ambition.  Three  years  later,  January  22,  1552, 
the  Duke  Protector  himself  mounted  the  scaffold  tlu'ough  the 
etforts  and  craft  of  the  Earl  of  Warwick,  who  coveted  his 
position  as  the  first  in  the  Kingdom  after  the  King.  In  the 
midst  of  this  strife  of  fraud  and  blood,  what  progress  could  bo 
made  in  the  peaceful  mission  for  which  Sebastian  Cabot  had 
been  invited  ?  Sebastian's  proposals  to  Venice  were  made  just 
at  the  time  that  the  Duke  of  Somerset  fell  from  his  greatness 
and  met  his  end  at  the  hands  of  the  executioner.  At  that  time, 
[believe,  Cabot,  hopeless  of  .his  future  in  England,  turned 
to  Venice  to  see  if  in  that  quarter,  however  distant  from  the 
field  of  his  operations,  a  way  could  be  found  to  carry  out 
tlie  great  designs  he^v  •  revolving  in  his  mind.  But  when  he 
perceived  that  Somerset's  fall  did  not  destroy  the  confidence 
they  had  in  him,  and  that  his  plan  might  still  hope  for  a  suc- 
cessful execution  in  England  ;  then,  I  think,  he  let  the  mat- 
ter drop  at  Venice,  and  pressed  it  no  further  ;  just  as  he  had 
j  acted  in  Spain,  where  we  saw  him  insist  for  a  moment  on 
liis  offer  to  Venice,  and  then  cease  to  prosecute  it.  We  are 
therefore  forced  to  suppose  that  he  only  recurred  to  \  enice 
when  in  the  necessity  of  his  circumstances  no  other  course 
jeemed  open. 

Looking  at  the  matter  in  this  aspect  (which  1  hold  to  be  un- 
doubtedly thtt  true  one),  all  the  invective  and  accusation  of 


..J.■^ 


l»pi»Fi 


;.t. 


■'I 
\^  ■ 


272 


THK  LIFE  OF  SEBASTIAN  CABOT. 


treachery  which  Harrisse  lieaps  on  him,  as  though  ho  wanted 
to  sell  underhand  to  Venice  the  secrets  ho  had  learned  in  Vaw. 
land,  falls  to  the  ground.  No:  Cabot  was  not  a  fickle  man  clianj;- 
ing  his  opinions  from  day  to  day,  still  less  greedy  of  guin  and 
wealth,  ready  to  sell  himself  for  the  best  offer  ;  but  on  tlio  con- 
trary, a  man  of  genius,  his  whole  mind  enamored  of  u  lofty 
ideal  which  he  sought  to  actualize,  and  not  having  the  means 
himself  to  carry  it  out,  he  chooses  what  seems  to  him  the  host 
way  to  gain  his  end  and  when  he  finds  this  way  clo.sed 
or  blocked,  he  rushes  to  some  other  road  that  offers  to  reach 
the  goal  he  is  striving  for. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 


Project  of  Navigation  to  the  North-East. 

Cabot  was  now  nearly  an  octogenarian,  but  his  bodily  fihre 
was  unusually  robust  and  his  mind  as  strong  and  clear  as  in  liis 
prime.  And  surely  the  stout  old  man  must  have  felt  himself 
restored  to  youth  when  he  found  himself  again  free  and  un- 
trammelled in  the  field  of  his  greatest  glory,  and  could  open  his 
mind  without  reserve  to  the  bold  enthusiams  of  his  earlier 
days.  But  returning  to  the  glorious  fields  of  his  former  vic- 
tories to  fight  more  battles  there,  the  plan  of  warfare 
which  he  brought  with  him  was  quite  different  from 
that  on  which  he  had  performed  his  first  campaign.  The 
cause  of  this  change  must  be  sought  for  in  the  more  extended 
and  certain  knowledge  on  the  conformation  and  size  of  our 
globe  that  had  since  been  acquired.  When  the  two  Cabots  in 
1497,  in  search  of  a  way  of  communication  with  Asia,  sailed 
to  the  north-west,  they  believed  that  in  this  direction  there 
was  nothing  interposed  between  Europe  and  Asia  except  a  few 
islands,  and  that  the  two  continents  faced  one  another.  But 
now  the  discoveries  of  Balboa,  Pizarro,  Cortez,  Cartier,  and 
the  voyage  of  Magellan  had  shown  that  there  was  a  great  con- 
tinent instead,  and  beyond  that  continent  an  immense  ex- 


IGNORANCE  OF  NORTHiJRN  GEOGRAPHY. 


273 


panse  of  ocean  before  reaching  the  land  of  spices.  The  goal 
of  their  navigation  was  become  too  distant,  and  the  great  dis- 
tance rendered  vain  the  results  hoped  for  from  putting  Eng- 
land in  direct  communication  with  the  eastern  countries 
of  Asia  by  way  of  the  northern  seas  of  the  west.  This 
consideration  turned  his  thoughts  to  ascertaining  if  it 
was  not  possible  to  open  that  way  of  communication  by 
the  east,  sailing  along  the  northern  lands  of  Europe  and 
,Vsia. 

To  appreciate  the  value  of  the  question  which  Sebastian 
I'abot  proposed  to  his  learning  and  skill,  we  must  remember 
the  state  of  Geography  in  those  days  in  all  that  related  to  the 
northern  portion  of  Europe.  In  this  we  are  wonderfully  as- 
sisted by  the  chart  which  Cabot  himself  composed  in  1544, 
I'ud  which  as  the  latest  in  date  comprises  the  studies  of  all  the 
others  ^vhich  preceded  it,  and  presents  the  most  complete 
picture  of  geographical  knowledge  at  the  time  of  which  our 
narrative  is  now  treating.  "If  we  compare,"  says  a  learned 
writer,  "the  Map  of  the  World  of  Martin  Behaim  and  the 
Planisphere  of  Sebastian  Cabot,  we  shall  see  at  a  glance 
what  wonderful  progress  geographical  science  had  made  in 
the  short  space  of  time  that  separates  1492  from  1544.  The 
jicneral  outline  of  the  two  great  continents  no  longer  provokes 
a  smile.  Africa  and  India,  Cathay,  Japan,  America  as  far 
as  Magellan's  Strait,  are  known  :  but  as  soon  as  we  cast  our 
eyes  on  the  northern  part  of  our  heiuisphere,  as  soon  as  we 
waiit  to  go  in  that  direction  beyond  ro  53rd  degree  of  lat- 
itude, we  stop  in  astonishment.  How  e.  ,  lain  that  the  cosmog- 
raphy of  the  sixteenth  century  could  collect  such  exact  no- 
tions of  the  portions  of  the  globe  most  recently  discovered, 
while  still  reduced  to  tracing  the  shores  of  the  Baltic,  the 
coasts  of  Norway,  on  the  faith  of  Ptolemy's  eight  books  and 
twenty-six  tables?  Because  beyond  the  53rd  degree  the  domain 
«t  the  Hanseatic  League  commences.  The  port  of  Sluys  on 
the  coast  of  Flanders,  that  of  Antwerp  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Scheldt,marked  throughout  the  middle  ages  the  extreme  limit 
which  the  merchant  squadron  of  Venice  bound  themselves 
never  to  cross.  Other  nations  at  times  ventured  to  infringe  on 

IS 


II    ppi|W*9^ 


274 


THE  LIFE  OF  SEBASTIAN  CABOT. 


the  zone  which  the  Hanse  towns  had  reserved  for  themselves ; 
they  never  entered  it  without  a  combat,  and  it  was  in  vain  that 
the  Dutch  in  the  yearl437  hoisted  a  broom  at  their  mast-heads 
to  show  the  world  that  they  came  to  sweep  tyrants  Iroin  the 


sea 


»* 


The  mention  here  made  of  the  Hanseatic  League  may  not 
be  sufficiently  clear  to  all  readers,  and  as  it  must  conic  di- 
rectly into  our  narrative  further  on,  it  is  best  to  tell  lioii;  biietly 
what  it  was  and  what  it  aimed  at.     About  1241,  the  cities  of 
Lubeck,  Bremen,  and  Hamburg  were  led  by  their  comniunity 
of  interests  to  form  a  league  together  to  exclude  and  keep  a- 
way   from  their  sphere  of  commercial  action  all  those,  par- 
ticularly Danes  and  Norwegians,  who  wanted  to  thrust  tiieia- 
selves  into  it  and  divide  with  them  the  profits.     Many  others 
afterwards  joined  these  three  cities,  so  that  the  lea},nie  ac- 
quired  such    strength   that   the    most    powerful   n.-^aarehs 
were  obliged  to  come  to  terms  with  them.  This  is  the  league  j 
that  was  called  Hanseatic  from  the  German  term,  JuniHc,  As- 
sociation.    All  the  territory  that  emptied  into  the  Baltic  was  j 
subj^  cted  to  the  commercial  power  of  this  league  :  and  so,  not 
only  from  Germany,  but  from  the  most  inland  and  distant  re- j 
gions  of  Russia,  all  the  wares  and  the  products  of  either  agricuh- 
ure  or  manufacture  that  wanted  to  come  into  commerce  liad 
to   apply   to   the   league.       Throe   great   fiictories,   liesidesj 
many  smaller,  at  Novgorod,  Bergen,  and  London,  (,'ollected 
for  it  from  the  most  distant  places  and  transported  from  one] 
point  to  another  its  merchandize  and  exchanges,  and  in  tl 
way  it  had  spread  over  all  the  northern  regions  like  a  netinio  j 
which  it  attracted  or  forced  every  thing  that  could  be  raadej 
an  article  of  commerce.       Whoever  wanted  to  sell  had  to  ap- 
ply to  it,  and  whoever  would  buy,  purchase  from  it.  Witlij 
this  close  net  in  the  northern  parts  was  connected  the  Vene-[ 
tian  net  for  other  parts  :  and  the  place  of  connection  was  firstj 
Bruges  and  afterwards  Antwerp.       The  caravan  of  ships  and! 
merchants  which  sailed  from  Venice   in  the  beginning  ofj 


*  Bevue  des  Deux  Mondes,  15  Juia  1876,  Les  Marina  au  xvi  SUcle,  par  M.  lej 
Vice-Amiral  E.  Juriea  de  La  Gravi^re,  p.767. 


THE  HANSEATIC  LEAGUE. 


275 


act -St^c^,  par  ^' 'M 


Spring,  and  extended  to  all  tlie  lands  and  harbors  of  the 
Mediterranean,  the  Black  Sea,  the  Red  Sea,  and  the  shores  of 
the  Atlantic,  went  to  deposit  in  one  or  the  other  of  these  cities 
the  merchandise  and  exch.an^es  which  the  rest  of  the  world 
^^tiit  to  the  regions  of  the  north,  and  found  there,  ready  to 
ship,  the  merchandise  and  exchanges  which  the  regions  ot 
the  north  sent  to  their  brother  peoples.  But  as  the  Hanseatic 
League  took  care  not  to  infringe  on  the  seas  and  lands  reserved 
for  Venice,  Venice  with  equal  delicacy  and  scruple  avoided 
even  entering  within  the  domain  of  the  league.  This  agree- 
ment was  so  well  observed  on  both  sides  that  there  never  was 
any  cause  of  discord  or  complaint  between  them.  In  this 
way  all  means  of  acquiring  geographical  knowledge  of  the 
seas,  which  the  jealousy  of  the  Han.seatic  League  reserved  for 
itself  exclusively,  was  cut  off  ;  and  it  would  tell  nothing,  be- 
cause it  was  its  interest  to  keep  all  those  places  in  obscurity 
and  mystery.  It  is  therefore  no  wonder  that  in  the  middle 
ofthe  sixteenth  century,  when  for  more  than  fifty  years  the  out- 
line of  Afrioa  had  been  known,  the  southern  part  of  Asia 
visited,  nearly  all  the  boundaries  of  the  New  Continent  ex- 
filored,  and  for  many  years  the  whole  globe  had  been  gone  a- 
rnund  ;  it  was  not  yet  known  whether  Europe  was  bounded  at 
j  the  north  by  sea,  or  its  northern  lands  continuing  to  extend  be- 
ynnd  the  Pole,  went  on  to  join  the  northern  lands  of  America. 
We  have  already  seen  that  just  in  the  middle  of  that  century, 
I  in  1550,  Ramusio  printed  these  words:  "Why  cannot  the  princes 
, .  cause. . .  .  discovery  towards  the  north  where  the  land  of 
I  Labrcidor  is,  and  see  whether  it  joins  Norway  or  there  is  sea  be- 
tfteen  ?"*  It  was  then  a  real  problem  which  Cabot  proposed  to 
study  and  solve.  We  know  not  when  he  first  turned  his  mind 
to  it,  but  it  was  cer+ainly  in  the  early  part  of  his  residence 
I  in  Spain,  and  probably  immediately  after  America  was 
Irecognized  as  a  continent  and  that  beyond  it  was  an  im- 
Iniense  ocean  before  reaching  Asia.  It  is  certain  that  on 
jhis  return  to  England  he  was  strong  for  giving  the  Eng- 
Ifeh  navigations  the  new  direction. f 


•Ramusio,  Delle  Namgationi  et  Viaggi,  vol.  i,  p.  115. 
t " Si  aveva  mesao  in  fantasia  Seba-^tia  lo  Caboto  .. 


e  molti  anni  col 


119^ 


iii;:':  I  ' 


1  '■! 


276 


THE  LIFE  OF  SEBASTIAN  CABOT. 


In  the  sec6nd  volume  of  Ramusio,  ediiion  of  1606  h^ 
Giunti  at  Venice,  on  page  211,  there  is  a  description  of  a 
voyage  in  this  new  direction  under  the  title,  "naviguzionc  di 
Sebastian©  Cabcte."  It  is  evidently  not  Ramusio's  work,  be- 
cause wanting  in  his  first  edition,  and  in  some  portieularsat 
variance  with  the  ideas  put  forth  by  him  in  other  places.* 
It  is  an  addition  inserted  in  the  second  edition  of  his  great 
collection,  when  he  had  been  sleeping  for  some  time  in  his 
peaceful  grave.  This  account  is  a  mere  log-book  of  the 
vessel  as  it  proceeded  on  its  course.  The  voyage  of  which  it 
speaks  is  there  said  to  have  taken  place  in  1556,  and  this  date 
is  of  itself  enough  to  exclude  all  possibility  of  its  having  be- 
longed to  Sebastian  Cabot,  for  he  was  then  close  on  to  85 
years  of  age,  and  a  man  of  that  age,  however  robust,  caiuiot 
set  out  on  a  long,  new  voyage,  full  of  unknown  difficulties 
and  dangers,  like  that  in  search  of  a  passage  through  tlie 
frozen  seas  of  the  extreme  north.  It  is  easy  to  recognize  that 
this  account  refers  to  one  of  the  many  attempts  which  the 
English  made  in  those  days  to  find  a  passage  by  the  north- 
east. The  collector  himself  says  as  much  in  his  preface  to  the 
account :  *'0f  the  many  navigations  since  that  our  men  have  made 
in  Moscovy,  only  this  one  is  described  here."f  Inquiring  to 
which  of  those  voyages  the  description  might  relate,  it  is  found 
to  correspond  beyond  doubt  to  the  voj'age  made  to  those  seas 
by  Stephen  Burrough,  who  was  one  of  the  most  expert  seamen 
that  England  could  boast  of  in  those  days,  and  who  held  the 
position  of  Grand  Pilot  in  that  country. 

But  the  mistake  of  the  anonymous  collector  tends  all  the 
more  to  the  glory  of  Sebastian  Cabot,  and  has  for  us  the  value 


pensiero  discorso  haveva,  poter  essere  che  qualche  passo  fosse  nel  mare  setten 
trionale,  per  il  quale  o  di  verso  levaute  o  di  verso  ponente  cod  breve  navi 
gatione  e  facile  lia  queste  nostre  parti  nel  grande  Oceano  Indlco  passare  si  j 
potcsse  ..."  Ramusio,  Ediz.  1606,  vol.  ii,  p.  813.   V.  App.  li.  —  also  Eden  | 
"  who  (Sebastian  Caboto)  long  before  had  this  secret  in  is  minde.  Decad.  fol, 
256. 

*  Ramusio  always  calls  Sebastian  Cabot  a  Venetian.   This  other  anonymous  j 
writer  begins  his  narrative  thus  :  "  Sebastian  Cabot,  an  Englishman." 

t  '  'Be  moltp  navigazioni  poi  che  i  nostri  hvomini  hanno  in  Moscotia  fait(, 
quc<*ta  sola  in  questo  luogo  si  descrive.  " 


ENGLISH  VOYAGES  TO  THE  NORTH-EAST. 


277 


of  an  historical  document,  for  in  this  error  ho  is,  as  it  wore,  tho 
irho  of  tho  general  opinion  then  entertained  in  relation 
tu  these  new  voyages  which  the  English  were  making  to  the 
north-east  ;  namely,  that  they  were  ail  the  fruit  of  Sebastian 
Cabot's  studies  and  activity  ;  and  the  intrepid  navigators 
who  advanced  amid  the  terrors  of  those  new  lands,  were  only 
carrying  out  the  work  conceived  and  calculated  by  him.  In- 
Jecd,  Burrough  was  pilot  on  the  first  voyage  which  Sebastian 
Cabot  promoted  to  those  parts,  and  rising  afterwards  to 
tlie  honor  of  commanding  an  expedition  himself,  he  merely 
continued,  like  all  the  rest,  the  work  commenced  by  Cabot. 
Besides  this,  the  description  of  this  voyage  enters  directly,  as 
a  document,  into  the  story  of  Sebastian  Cabot  by  the  preface 
which  the  anonymous  collector  prefixes  to  it,  in  which 
he  hints  at  some  of  the  arguments  on  which  Cabot  based  the 
possibility  of  that  passage.  It  is  true  hd  unites  the  under- 
takings of  father  and  son  in  a  single  one,  the  old  voyages  by 
the  west  and  the  new  by  the  east  ;  but  as  those  arguments 
have  little  or  nothing  to  do  with  the  western  voyages, 
and  the  anonymous  collector  himself  draws  the  conclusions 
from  them  only  in  regard  to  the  eastern  voyages,  we  must 
presume  that  they  are  intended  to  refer  to  the  latter  oiily,  and 
that  it  was  from  want  of  order  and  precision  that  John  Cabot 
and  the  western  voyages  were  also  related.  *  But  unfort- 
unately the  mention  is  so  miserably  brief  that  it  haidly 
amounts  to  any  thing,  whereas  both  the  man  who  imagined 
the  possibility  of  that  passage  and  studied  it  out,  and  the 
greatness  of  the  deed  in  relation  to  those  times  make  us  sup- 
pose a  long  and  varied  study  before  its  possibility  was  firmly 
rooted  in  Cabot's  mind.  The  anon3'mous  collector  himself 
hints  at  this  long  labor,  when  he  tells  us  that  Sebastian 
Cabot  had  discussed  that  subject  with  his  thoughts  for  many 
fars.  But  then,  when  he  comes  to  specify  that  long  dis- 
cussion that  Sebastian  Cabot  had  made,  he  says  in  general 

* "  These  are  the  principal  arguments,  trusting  in  which,  Sebastian  Cabot 
persuaded  the  men  of  tiiese  countriss  that  they  could  pass  by  the  northern  sea 
>>7  the  side  of  the  east."— See  App.  li. 


P  :     ■    -1.  '*  •  ■ 


^ 


r» 


278 


THK  LIFE  OP  8EBAHTIAN  CABOT. 


ft  - 


t- 


terms  "  lie  was  induced  to  ima;i;itic  tliis  tliincj  partly  by 
the  tostimoKy  of  soiuo  anciont  authors,  and  piu-tlv  by 
the  oxporioiico  of  numy  moderns,"  and  Ihen  for  the  testi- 
mony of  the  ancients  ho  mentions  two  facts,  one  in  the  duys 
of  the  Romans  and  the  other  in  the  middle  ages  :  and  tor  tlio 
exp(U'ience  of  the  moderns  ho  merely  gives  a  brief  liiiu  as  to 
what  was  hnown,  or  supposed  to  bo  known,  of  the  coni'ormation 
of  the  lands  and  seas  of  the  extreme  east. 

The  ancient  fact  is  taken  from  Pliny's  Natural  History 
where  it  is  related  on  the  authority  of  Cornelius  Nopos. 
Hero  are  Pliny's  words  :  "The  same  Nepos,  coucerniiijr  a 
northern  circuit,  relates  that  Q,  Metellus  Celer,  colleague  of  L. 
Afrauius  in  the  consulship,  but  at  this  time  proconsul  of 
Gaul,  received  as  a  present  from  the  King  of  the  Suevi  some  Ind- 
ians who,  while  sailing  from  India  for  purposes  of  commerce, 
had  been  driven  o!i  the  German  coast."*  Pomponius  Mela 
likewise  refers  the  same  story  to  Cornelius  Nepos  :  "For 
some  time  it  was  doubtful  what  was  beyond  the  Caspian  Gulf: 
whether  it  was  an  ocean  or  a  land  intolerable  from  cold  and 
endlessly  extended.  But  besides  the  authority  of  physicists 
and  of  Homer  who  said  that  the  whole  earth  was  surrounded 
by  water,  we  have  Cornelius  Nepos  of  higher  autliority 
because  more  recent,  who  gives  Metellus  Color  as  a  proof  of 
the  fact,"  and  then  gives  the  same  account  as  Pliuy.f  To 
understand  how  the  Romans  could  so  easily  credit  the  story 
of  this  shipwreck,  we  should  bear  in  mind  that  for  them  the 
Caspian  Sea  was  only  a  gulf  of  the  Northern  Ocean,  of  which 
the  Baltic  was  likewise  a  part,  so  that  from  the  Cirabric 
Chersonese  (  modern  Jutland  )  it  was,  according  to  them,  di- 
rectly navigable  to  the  northern  mouth  of  the  Caspian. :{:  That 

*  "Idem  Nepos  de  septentrionali  circuitu  tradit  Q.  Metello  Celeri,  L.  Afranii 
in  consulatu  coUegae,  sed  turn  Galliae  proconsuli,  Indosarese  Suevorumdono 
dates,  qui  ex  India  commercii  causa  uavigantes  tempestatibus  cssentiaGer- 
maniam  abrepti."— Plin.  Hist.  Nat.  lib.  ii,  cap.  67. 

■f  "  Ultra  Ciispium  sinum  quiduam  esset,  ambiguiim  "liqiiandiu  fuit;  idemne  j 
Oceanus  an   Tellus  infesta  frigoribus,  sii)e  ajibitu  ac  isiue  fine  projecta.     Sed ; 
praeter  pliysicos    Homerumque,  qui  uuiversum  orbem  'nari  circiimfubiim  esse 
dixerunt,  Cornelius  Nepos,  ut  recentior,  ita  auctoritate  certior ;  testem  autem  j 
rei  Metellun.  Celerem  .  .  . .  "    Pompon.  Mela,  De  Situ  Orbis,  iii,  5,  8. 

t  See  the  geographical  charts  according  to  the  system  of  Eratosthenes,  Hip- 


INDIANS  WRECKED  ON  THE  GERMAN  COAST. 


279 


from  the  Caspian  it  was  possible  to  sail  uninterruptedly  to  the 
Indies,  was  regarded  as  certain  on  Strabo's  authority.  "The 
inoutli  of  the  Caspian  or  Hircanian  sea  is  mucb  farther  north: 
itisiibout  six  thousand  stadia  distant  from  the  middle  of  the 
Caspian  and  from  the  Armenian  and  Median  mountains,  and 
seems  to  he  the  most  northern  point  of  the  whole  coast  and  pos- 
sible to  sail  around  as  far  as  India,  as  Patrocles,  the  governor 
„f  these  places,  says."  *  And  in  another  place  lie  says  : 
"They  do  not  admit  that  it  is  possible  that  some  sailed  around 
from  India  to  tlie  Hyrcanian,  but  Patrocles  found  it  so.  f 

Aa  to  Cornelius  Nepos's  account,  there  being  no  reason  for 
(k'liying  the  sliip wreck  of  strangers  on  the  German  coast,  it 
lias  been  asked  what  people  these  supposed  Indians  belonged 
to.  Some  have  thought  they  were  Esquinuiux  from  labra- 
dor  or  Greenland,  driven  on  our  shores  by  north-west  gales. ":j: 

During  the  middle  ages  geography  made  no  progress  in  the 
knowledge  of  these  regions.  And  as  the  Arab  writers  of  the 
tenth  century  had  told  of  a  ship  sailing  from  Siraph  harbor 
in  the  Persian  Gulf,  carried  by  the  force  of  tiie  currents  into  the 
Caspian  Sea,  whence  passing  through  a  channel  it  reached 


parchus,  and  Strabo,  annexed  to  the  Fiencb  translation  of  Strabo,  Paris,  Ira- 
prim(;riu  Imporiale,  1805. 

* ". . .  ?E6Tai  de. . .  .rd  tov  dTo/naroi  riji  Kadniai  OaXdddrji  Eire  'TpK- 
avlai  ndixitoXv  rt  dpHTiKdorepa  '  onep  rov  uvxiv  rrji  Kadniai  xai  toot 
'AptuviaHwv  xai  MrjStKdSy  dpwv  diixst  nepi  i^aKidxi^iovi  draS/r^i, 
KciiSoKsl  T^i  dvrifi  itapaXiai  i^ixp^  r^S  'IvStx^i  dpKTiHu)Tepov  tivai 
(tiutlov,  xal  nepinXovv  k'xety  'and  rvi  'IvSiXTji  dvraTov,  oT 5  q)7]div  6  t65v 
^omv7iy7/adj:isvoi  tovtojv  narpoxXTfiP  StTab.  Geogr.  lib.  ii,  p.  74,  sub 
finem. 

\'Ovx  unoXoyovdi  8h  on  rcepiiitXevdav  rtvsi'anC'  r?"?  'IvStHv?  iiti  Ttjv 
Tpmviav,  on  Se  Svvazov,  IlarpoKX^i  Eiprfxe—W  ib.  lib.  xi,  p.  518,  sub 
&Dem. 

{"Siyano  fuesea  de  Tierra  del  Labrador,  y  los  I  viesen  por  ludianos, 
enpiiados  en  el  color."— Qomara,  Historia  delas  Indias.fol.  7.  —  And  Corne- 
lius Wytfliet,  in  his  additions  to  Ptolemy's  Geography  published  in  1597  :  — 
"  Indos  quondam  tempestatibus  in  Suevorum  et  Germaiiiss  litora  eiectos  et  L. 
Metello  Celeri  dono  datos,  non  ex  ultimts  Orieutis  el  Occidcntis  partibua,  uli 
quibuEciam  visum  est,  sed  ex  hac  Laboratoris  et  Estotilandiae  aut  vicinis  ter- 
ns veuisse  constanter  teneo,  mecumque  sentiet  quicumque  climatis  rationem 
e:penderit."  Others  instead  have  lield  that  they  were  merely  Wends,  a  Slav- 
onian people  dwelling  on  the  southern  shores  of  the  Baltic—  See  Vivien  de 
St,  Martin,  Histoire  de  la  Oeographie,  p.  176. 


IF.      '".   'l!IK,Wll|lj-ipir'"|l« 


280 


THE  LIFE  OF  SEBASTIAN  CABOT. 


the  C3ast  of  Syria  ;  *  so  amongst  our  own  writers  iEneas  Syl- 
vius Piccoloraiiii,  in  the  same  century  in  which  America  was 
discovered,  and  the  most  southerly  point  of  A  fViCa  was  passed, 
relates  from  Otto-  of  Freisingen  that,  "an  Indian  ship  witii 
Indian  merchants  was  taken  on  the  coast  of  Germany  wlmli 
evidently  had  been  driven  there  from  the  east ;  which  could 
not  possibly  have  happened  if,  as  many  suppose,  the  north- 
ern sea  was  frozen  and  unnavigable.  f  The  fact  reported  by 
Piccolomini  is  the  second  given  by  the  aiionymous  Collector, 
and  almost  literal! v  translated. 

After  'all  this,  it  cannot  be  wondered  at  that  Sebastian 
Cabot,  who  had  sailed  over  and  visited  so  many  seas  and 
lands,  should  also  accept  these  stories  of  vessels  from  the  east- 
ern seas  of  Asia  driven  by  storms  into  our  northern  seas. 

But  to  these  arguments  deduced  from  the  testimony  of 
writers,  he  added  others  drawn  from  his  own  profound  knowl- 
edge of  every  science  that  has  any  affinity  to  the  nautical. 
Here  one  should  be  glad  to  icnow  the  basis  of  his  study  and 
reasoning  :  but  our  desires  are  even  less  gratified  than  in  the 
historical  arguments.  For  in  the  latter,  treating  of  a  matter  of 
fact,  a  mere  allusion  is  sufficient  to  direct  us  in  imagining 
very  nearly  the  process  that  Sebastian  Cabot*s  mind  must  hav'3 
gone  through  in  its  work  ;  but  in  the  reasoning  based  on  his 
extensive  and  profound  learning  in  nautical,  geogra})]rii.ai, 
and  cosmographical  studies,  we  are  forced  to  stop  at  the  simple 
mention  of  it  made  by  Ramusio's  new  anonymous.  Tlio 
reasoning  reported  is  entirely  based  on  error,  but  the  ])lam(M)f 
that  belongs  to  the  age,  not  the  man.  Here  is  the  little  tliat 
the  anonymous  writer  chives  us  :  -'The  other  argument  was 
that  beyond  the  Indian  Sea,  the  G  ilf  of  the  Gauges,  the 
Golden  Chersonese  or  Malacca,  and  the  Proviiice  of  Sina, ;{;  and 


*  Humboldt,  Recherches  Critiques  i,  p.  480. 

t"Nos  apiid  Othonero  legimus  sub  Iniperatoribtis  Theutonicis  Indicam  navira 
et  negociatores  Indices  in  gertiiiiuiro  litore  fiiisse  deprefafinsos,  qiios  veiitisa 
gitatos  ingratie  ab  oiientali  plaga  venisse  constabat  ;  quod  accidcre  minimc 
potuisset,  si,  ut  plerisque  visum  est,  septentrionale  pelagus  innn vicatiik- cm 
creturaque  esset."— .4sj(B  Europmque  Deacriptio.  De  Mundo  in  universo,  cap.  ii. 

X  Soutbern  China,  mentioned  by  Ptolemy  under  the  name  of  Sinne. 


cabot's  knowledge  of  the  north. 


281 


beyond  the  navigation  of  moderns,*  he  knew  for  certain  that 
this  Indian  Seo  was  situated  in  length  (longitude)  nearly  in 
180°  t  and  in  breadth  (latitude)  in  the  25th  degree,  a  little 
beyond  the  meridian  of  Tartary,  and  the  extensive  empire  of 
Cathay  (that  wirch  is  sought  after  by  navigators  ab  the  end  and 
reward  of  their  labors) ;  and  considering  how  ar.d  how  much 
this  great  sea  of  the  Indies  was  constantly  expanding  under 
that  meridian  and  bending  northwards,  not  lightly  or  without 
reason ....  he  judged  it  likely  that  if  our  northern  sea  extended 
on  the  cast  or  west  towards  the  south  ...  it  would  not  be  a 
long  navigation  from  70°,or  60°  latitude  to  30°  in  which  the^ 
place  Cathay,  an  incredible  distance  from  Moscovy.  . .  .Trust- 
ing in  which  arguments,  he  persuaded  the  men  of  these  coun- 
tries that  they  could  pass  by  the  northern  sea  by  the  side  of 
the  East  ....  easily  and  in  a  certain  time  to  East  India, 
or  at  least  reach  the  Kingdom  of  Cathay.":|: 

Vice-admiral  Jurien  de  la  Graviere  in  the  article  mentioned 
further  back  has  made  an  observation  which  should  be  here 
copied,  for  it  may  throw  not  a  little  light  on  our  present  subject. 
Xot  a  mere  man  of  the  sea,  he  was  one  of  the  most  learned  of 
this  century  in  geographical  science,  and  therefore  his  words 
should  have  great  weight. 

Speaking  of  the  navigation  of  the  North  and  Baltic  seas  in 
the  time  of  Sebastian  Cabot,  he  wrUes  :  "The  Germans,  Danes, 
Flemings,  the  fishermen  from  the  north  of  Scotland,  are  the 
only  sailors  who  have  yet  visited  those  shores.  Sebastian 
Cabot  would  have  gained  little  by  consulting  them.  These 
people  have  not  ceused  to  deserve  the  comtemptuous  remark 
of  Prince  Henry  :  '  they  know  nothing  of  the  use  of  marine 
charts  or  the  compass.'  One  bright  point,  however, 
never  ceased  to  shine  through  the  thickness  of  the  ancient 
darkness.  Where  you  would  go  to-day  to  look  for  Hammer- 
fest,  Cape  North,  Varangcr  Fiord,  you  will  see  marked  on  the 
planisphere  of  1544  at  the  bottom  of  a  large  gulf  the  Danish 


*The  Spanish  and  Portuguese,  wbo  in  the  first  half  of  the  XVI  Century  vis- 
ited the  great  archinelago  of  the  East  Indies, 
t  Prom  the  meridian  of  Ferro.  .       ;    , 

tSeeApp.  1.  /.',■■:',.■."';:■.■"      '  •.  • 


282 


THE  LIFE  OP  SEBASTIAN  CABOT. 


l-.il-Xr'  ',.■•.'' 


fortress  of  Varduus.  *  Neither  Martin  Behaim,  extending  his 
savage  Laponia  to  the  North  Pole,  nor  John  de  la  Cosa,  nor  the 
unknown  cosraographer  of  Henry  II,  mentioned  this  extreme 
station,  f  Sebastian  Cabot  points  it  out  to  the  navigator  as 
the  bourn  to  double  iii  order  to  enter  the  Sea  of  Tartary,  and 
wonderful  to  say,  wants  very  little  of  putting  it  in  its  right 

place "X  The  northern  ?oast  of  Finmark  which  extends 

a  great  distance  on  the  same  parallel,  has  really  the  right  to 
occupy  the  70th  degree  of  latitude  as  Sebastian  Cabot  un- 
derstands. It  is  there  that  Europe  ends,  and  for  a  serious 
cosraographer  it  is  there  also  that  the  world  should  terminate^ 
This  almost  exactness  on  a  point  so  distant  that  it  is  only 
found  on  Sebastian  Cabot's  chart,  attests,  in  my  opinion,  the 
patient  investigation  he  kept  making,  so  far  as  possible  with 
the  uncertain  information  current  among  northern  mariners, 
on  the  condition  and  situation  of  places  in  those  distant  re- 
gions. These  long  and  patient  investigations  are  in  perfect 
keeping  with  the  study  he  was  for  years  maturing  on  the  pos- 
sibility of  navigating  and  crossing  those  seas. 


*  Vardoehmis,  on  the  lulaud  of  VardoB,  in  the  Diocese  of  Tromsoe.a  city  of 
200  inhabitants,  situated  in  70"  83'  N.  L.  and  28°  47'  E.  Longitude. 

f  The  famous  chart  known  under  the  name  of  Henry  II,  and  which  \7oiild 
seem  to  have  been  composed  between  August  1541  and  Juuc  1544,  and  conse- 
quently the  last  in  the  series  r-rior  to  the  pLtnisphere  composed  by  Sebastian 
Cabot  —See  Harrisse,  Jean  et  S'hastien  Cabot,  p.  210  and  s. 

X  "70°  38'  N.  L.  instead  of  70°  22.'  —40°  of  longitude  east  from  the  meridian 
of  Paris  instead  of  28°  47'." 

S"Les  Allemands,  les  Danois,  les  Flamaads,le8  pficheurs  du  Nord  de  I'Ecosse, 
sont  les  seuls  marins  qui  aient  encore  frequents  ces  parages.  S6bastien  Cabot 
gagnerait  peu  &  les  consulter.  Ces  gens-lft  n'ont  pas  cesse  de  m§riler  la  dedaig- 
neuse  exclamation  du  prince  Henri,  'ils  n'enlendentricn  ai'emploides  cartes 
marines  et  de  laboussole.'  Un  point  lumineux  ne  laisse  pascependaDtdcbriller 
d,  travers  I'epaisseur  des  antiques  ten^bres.  \A  oil  vous  iriez  aujourd'  bin  cher- 
cher  Hammerfest,  le  cap  Nord,  le  fiord  de  Varanger,  vous  verrez  iodiquee  suv 
le  planisphere  de  1544,  au  fond  d'  uu  large  golfe,  la  forteresse  danoise  de  'Var- 
duus!' Ni  Martin  Behaim  ^tenuant  jusq'au  pdle  sa  Laponie  sauvage,  ni 
Juan  de  la  Cosa,  ni  le  cosmographe  inconnu  d'Henri  II,  n'ont  fait  mention  de 
cette  Etation  extr6me.  Sebastien  Cubot  la  montre  au  navigateur  conime  la 
borne  d,  doubler  pour  entrer  dans  la  mer  de  Tartaric,  et,  chose  merveilleuse,  il 
s'en  f  aut  de  bien  peu  qu'il  ne  I'ait  mise  a  sa  place. " 


THE  HANSEATIC  LEAGUE  IN  ENGLAND. 


283 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 


)in  the  meridian 


'  Expedition  to  the  North-East. 

In  the  preceding  chapter  we  had  to  stop  to  speak  of  the 
Hanseatic  League,  on  account  of  the  obstacle  it  was  to  the  ex- 
tension of  geographical  knowledge  of  the  northern  portion  of 
our  hemisphere  ;  now  we  return  to  it  to  tell  its  relations 
with  England,  for  it  is  from  that  country  that  the  work  for- 
warded by  Sebastian  Cabot  sets  out.  The  Hanseatic  League 
established  itself  in  London  in  the  year  1256,  and  the  com- 
pany which  was  formed  there  of  German  merchants  took  the 
uame  of  Steelyard.  Its  coming  seemed  at  first  a  blessing  to  the 
commerce  of  England,  which  was  languishing  in  the  most 
squalid  misery,  and  to  encourage  those  merchants  in  their 
action  Government  was  never  tired  of  conferring  privileges  on 
their  association.  The  activity  and  energy  of  the  merchants 
answered  these  hopes  only  too  well.  For,  aided  by  the  many 
privileges  they  had  acquired,  and  many  more  which  they  were 
able  to  appropriate  to  themselves  by  custom  and  the  acquies- 
cence of  the  government  and  people,  supported  by  their  im- 
mense wealth,  their  connections,  the  warehouses  which  they 
had  opened  in  the  most  populous  centres  of  England,  and  by 
their  correspondence  with  the  most  commercial  marts  of  Eu- 
rope ;  they  had  reached  such  point  that  they  not  only  drew  to 
llieniselves  the  entire  commerce  of  England,  but  they  per- 
mitted no  exports  or  imports  through  any  other  hands  than 
their  own,  defrauding  individuals  and  the  government  to  an 
enormous  extent,  for  they  fixed  the  bulletin  of  prices  of  every 
thing  bought  by  the  English,  and  compelled  all  foreign 
goods  coming  into  England  and  which  should  have  paid  a 
good  toll  to  the  government,  to  pass  under  their  flag,  which 
either  exempted  them  from  ail  customs  or  reduced  the  duties  to 


,iH 


m 


284 


THE  LIFE  OP  SEBASTIAN  CABOT. 


i 


;;i 


..:;,. :.n  ■ 


an  insignificant  rate,  *  As  a  proof  of  the  enormous  prepon- 
derance acquired  by  the  German  company  in  English  com- 
merce, I  will  only  give  this,  that  in  the  year  1551,  it  of  itself 
alone  exported  from  England  44,000  pieces  of  cloth,  and  all 
the  English  merchants  together  only  sent  fit  l,100.f 

Seeing  the  great  injury  it  did  the  country  in  every  respect, 
Edward  III  and  Richard  II  made  great  efforts  to  stimulate 
their  subjects  to  navigation.  But  all  their  efforts  were  idle 
The  Steelyard  Company  by  craft  or  arrogance,  as  suited  the 
case,  gained  the  favor  of  Henry  VI  and  imposed  its  will 
on  Edward  IV.  Henry  VII  was  often  compelled  to  oppose  it, 
and  he  notified  the  Diet  at  Antwerp  in  1491,  through  his  rep- 
resentatives that  thenceforth  the  German  merchants  would 
be  treated  in  England  on  the  same  footing  as  the  English 
merchants  in  the  Hanseatic  cities.  But  this  amounted  to  noth- 
ing, for  English  manufactures  and  commerce  were  in  no  posi- 
tion to  do  without  the  Hanse  towns.  And  so  England  con- 
tinued for  sixty  years  longer  to  bear  the  yoke  jjiposed 
on  her  by  foreign  commerce.  The  credit  of  breaking  that 
yoke  and  placing  England  on  the  road  that  brought  her  to 
the  rank  of  the  richest  nation  in  the  world  and  the  Queen  of  the 
Seas,  belongs  to  Sebastian  Cabot.  On  his  return  to  England 
he  made  himself  the  centre  of  the  national  merchants,  restored 
their  drooping  courage,  and  raised  their  hopes  of  the  future. 
His  reputation  and  authority  gave  special  force  to  his  words, 
so  that,  clinging  close  to  him,  and  guided  b}'  his  suggestions 
and  advice,  the  English  merchants  presented  to  the  Privy  Coun- 
cil of  King  Edward  an  appeal  against  the  intolerable  abuses 
and  frauds  of  the  Steelyard  Company.  This  company  at  once 
appreciated  the  danger  that  threatened  them,  and  with  alarm 
and  energy  equal  to  the  danger,  they  rose  to  oppose  it.   They 


*  Hakluyt,  vol.  i,  p.  144  and  s.  —Anderson's  History  of  Commerce,  vol.  ii, 
p.  90.  — Mc  Pherson's  Annals  of  Commerce,  vol,  ii,  p.  109.—  "There  u  a  law 
of  this  reign,"  says  Hurne  (12  Henry  VII  ),"containing  a  preamble  by  which  it 
appears  that  the  company  of  merchant  adventurers  in  London,  had,  by  their 
own  authority,  debarred  all  the  other  merchants  of  the  Kingdom,  from  tradio? 
to  the  great  Marts  in  the  Low  countries,  unless  each  trader  previously  paid 
them  the  sum  of  near  seventy  pounds."  History  of  England,  ch.  xxvi. 
t  Jurien  de  la  Qravi6re  in  the  Reme  dea  Deux  Mondea,  15  Juin,  1876,  p.  764, 


THE  HANSEATIC  LEAGUE  IN  ENGLAND. 


285 


not  only  put  in  motion  all  the  influence  rx  their  money,  their 
connections,  and  adherents,  but  caused  the  cities  of  Hamburg 
and  Lubeck  to  interfere  officially. 

But  the  government  sustained  the  protest  of  the  merchants 
of  the  nation,  and  restrained  the  Steelyard  within  the  privi- 
leges it  had  actually  obtained.*  This  was  a  deadly  blow  to 
the  company  ;  for  a  company  of  national  merchants  was  at 
once  formed  around  Cabot,  and  guided  by  his  good  sense, 
and  incited  by  his  energy,  was  the  origin  and  beginning  of 
that  marvellous  activity  and  diligence  in  commerce  and 
navigation  which  the  English  have  since  displayed  through- 
out the  world. 

Strype  records  a  present  of  £200  to  Sebastian  Cabot  from 
King  Edward  in  the  month  of  March  of  this  year.f  Biddle, 
reasoning  from  the  circumstances  of  the  time,  concluded  that 
this  present  was  in  token  of  the  royal  satisfaction  at  the  part 
he  had  taken  in  organizing  the  company  of  national 
merchants.  But  as  the  book  of  that  King's  privy  expenses 
mentions  another  present,  also  cf  £200,  the  year  before, 
which  we  related  further  back,  a  doubt  remains  that  Strype 
may  have  mistaken  the  year  of  the  present. 

As  soon  as  the  company  was  formed,  Cabot  and  the  mer- 
chants began  holding  many  and  frequent  meetings  to  con- 
sult on  their  action  ;  X  ^^^  ^^^^n  it  was  that  he  disclosed  the 
secret  which  according  to  the  anonymous  of  Ramusio's  second 
edition,  he  had  jealously  guarded  even  when  he  was  in 
Spain,  and  which  Eden  affirms  he  had  long  thought  and 
studied  over.  §     This  was,  as  we  have  already  said,  the  proj- 

*  The  reply  to  the  Steelyard  was  dated  March  25, 1551.  In  the  diary  of 
theyoung  King  Edward  published  by  Burnet  in  his  History  of  the  Reformation, 
vol,  ii,  the  progress  of  tho  dispute  with  the  Steelyard  is  found  registered 
from  day  to  day.  "  35  March,  1551.  The  Answer  for  the  Ambassador  of  the 
Stiliard  was  committed  to  the  Lord  Chancellor,  &c." 

t '  To  Sebastian  Caboto,  the  great  seaman,  200  poimts,  by  way  of  the  King's 
majesty's  reward,  dated  in  March,  1551."— Strype's  Historical  Memorials,  vol. 
ii,  p,  495. 

t  ".  ,  .  .  they  (the  merchants)  began  first  of  all  to  deal  and  consult  diligently 
with  him  (Caboto)." 
,  Hakluyt,  1.  p.  270.  Voyage  of  Richani  Chancellor.  .,,r>>  -  ■  :■- 

S"and  whereas  I  have  before  made  mention  ho  we  Moscovie  was  In  our  time 


ffppp«p" 


ti  'J 


286 


THE  LIFE  OF  SEBASTIAN  CABOT. 


•J! 


ect  of  opening  a  passage  to  Asia  by  the  north-east  of 
Europe.  But  this  secret  must  be  understood  of  the  i)roject 
of  that  navigation  as  studied  out  and  calculated  with  all  the  aid 
that  study  and  science  can  give  to  a  man  of  genius  an;l 
experience  like  Cabot  ;  for  as  to  the  simple  idea  of  the 
possibility  of  sailing  to  the  north-east  to  reach  Asia,  we 
have  seen  that  in  the  days  of  the  Romans  and  the  Greeks,  and 
in  those  very  years  when  Cabot  was  studying  tliTs  proh- 
lem  scientificeilly,  others  in  various  places  were  turning 
their  iiiind  to  it  by  way  of  induction,  foretelling  that  some  one 
would  attempt  that  passage.  One  of  these  was  Raniusio's 
Anonymous  who  had  the  long  conversation  with  Sebastian 
Cabot  in  Spain,  to  which  our  story  has  had  li-equent  oc- 
casion to  refer.  In  the  same  discourse  at  Fracastoro's  \[\h, 
where  he  relates  this  conversation,  he  gives  anotlier  in 
which  the  thought  of  this  navigation  is  clearly  hinted  at,  * 
And  further  on,  referring  to  some  plans  that  had  ])een 
laid  for  attracting  the  trade  of  Cathay  to  Russia,  but  wliich 
had  fallen  through,  he  goes  on  to  say  :  "  that  if  it  had 
been  proposed  to  sail  from  the  shores  of  this  our  northern  sea 
right  along  the  coast  to  Cathay  the  plan  might  easily 
have  been  carried  out.  And  ....  that  as  to  the  said  seas,  it 
cannot  be  doubted  that  they  are  navigable  for  six  mouths  of 
the  year,  the  days  being  very  long  and  warm,  owin^  to 
the  continual  reverberation  of  the  solar  rays."  And  nuich 
more  directly,  in  fact  absolutely  proposing  it,  Robert  Thorne 
speaks  of  it  in  a  letter  which  he  wrote  in  1527  to  Henry  VIII 


discovered  by  Riclioid  Chanceler  in  Ills  voyage  toward  Cathay,  by  tlic  di- 
rection and  infornmiion  of  M.  Sebastian  Cabota,  who  long  before  had  this  secret 
inhisminde." — Eden's  Decad.  fol.  256.— And  tbe  second  Anonim  ous  of  P.a- 

inusio: — "Sebastiano  Cabota il  quale.  .  .  .(come  esso  dir  soleva)  sin  quando 

in  Spagna  habitava  haveva  nella  mente  tenuto  per  marinari  questo  secrete  oc- 
culto  .  .  .  ."—  Riimusio,  II.  Ediz.  Venezia,  1606,  vol.  ii,  p.  212. 

*  Here  are  his  words  :  "In  my  young  days  finding  myself  in  Germany  in  the 
City  of  Augsburg,  there  came  there  an  ambassador  from  the  Duke  of  Moscovy 
....speaking  with  Lim  one  day  of  these  Indianscast  by  fortune  on  the  shores  of 
Germany,  and  of  tlie  voyage  that  might  be  made  to  discover  by  the  nortiicru  seas 
the  lands  of  Spices,  I  observed  that  lie  was  mucli  .surprised  at  first  as  at  some- 
thing wliich  he  never  could  have  dreamt  of,  but  after  reflecting,  it  fell  into  his 
fancy  and  greatly  pleased  him."  Ramusio,  vol.  i,  p.  412. 


CABOT  PROPOSES  THE  NORTH-EAST  PASSAGE. 


287 


of  England,  to  urge  the  searching  for  a  northern  passage 
to  the  east  of  Asia,  for  which  undertaking  he  proposed,  as 
we  have  seen,  one  of  these  three  ways  :  by  the  north-west,  or 
directly  across  the  pole,  or  by  the  north-east.  Of  the  last  he 
wrote  :  "If  they  will  go  toward  the  Orient,  they  shall  enjoy  the 
regions  of  all  the  Tartarians,  that  extend  toward  the  mid- 
day, and  from  thence  they  may  go  and  proceed  to  the  land  of 
the  Chinas,  and  from  thence  to  the  land  of  Cathaio  Orientall, 
which  is  of  all  the  maine  land  most  oriental  that  can  be  reck- 
oned from  our  habitation.  And  if  from  thence  they  doe  con- 
tinue their  navigation,  following  the  coasts  that  returne  tow- 
ard the  Occident,  they  shall  fall  in  with  Malaca,  and  so  with 
all  the  Indies  which  we  call  Orientall,  and  following  the  way, 
may  returne  hither  by  the  Cape  of  Buona  Speranza,  and 
thus  they  shall  compasse  the  whole  worlde."* 

But  their  suppositions  and  proposals  were  built  in  the  air, 
whereas  the  project  of  Sebastian  Cabot  was  accompanied  by 
all  the  necessary  demonstrations  to  show  that  it  could  be 
carried  out  ;  and  herein  we  must  believe  consisted  tlie  secret 
he  had  nursed  as  far  back  as  when  he  was  in  Spain. 

The  English  merchants  were  exceedingly  pleased  with 
Cabot's  plan,  both  because  it  greatly  shortened  the  voyage  to 
the  treasures  of  the  extreme  east,  from  the  very  long  distances 
sailed  by  the  Spaniards  and  Portuguese,  and  because  the 
position  of  the  new  way  secured  almost  the  entire  benefit  to 
England.  Approving,  therefore,  his  studies  and  calculations, 
they  agreed  to  send  to  sea  three  ships  to  carry  out  his  plan,  f 
A  public  subscription  was  opened,  and  although  the  shares 
were  only  put  at  twenty-five  pounds  sterling,  the  necessary 
amount  was  subscribed  for  in  a  very  short  time.;}:     Every 

•Hakluyti,  p.837. 

t " after  much  speech  and  conference  together,  it  was  at  last  con- 

eluded  that  three  shippes  should  bee  prepared  and  furnished  out,  for  the  search 
iDd  discoverie  of  the  Northern  part  of  the  world  to  open  a  way  and  passage 
to  our  men  for  travaiie  to  new  and  unknown  kiogdomes."  Hakluyt.  i,  270. 
Narrative  of  Richard  Chancellor. 

t  "by  this  nompanie  it  was  thought  expedient,  that  a  certaine  summe  of 
moDey  should  publiquely  bee  collected  to  serve  for  the  furnishing  of  so  many 
sbippes.    And  lest  any  private  man  should  bee  «oo  much  oppressed  and 


|!l    |l  J^iP   pflM  .    I  VI  ,  11.1 


-1 

> 


288 


THE  LIFE  OF  SEBASTIAN  CABOT. 


;  » 


shareholder  was  a  member  of  the  new  company,  wliich  took 
the  name  of  Merchant  Adventurers  of  England  tor  the  Dis. 
covory  of  Regions,  Domin.'ons,  Islands,  and  places  unknown 
but  it  was  commonly  known  by  the  shorter  form  of  Flic  Com. 
pany  of  Merchants  of  Cathay  and  Russia.*  Wo  havo 
already  said  that  Russia  in  those  days  had  little  more  rolutioiis 
with  the  rest  of  Europe  than  with  far-away  Cathay,  suid  tlio 
little  she  sent  us  of  her  products,  or  received  of  ours,  was 
wholly  in  the  gripe  of  the  Hanseatic  League.  The  sliaro- 
iioiders  elected  for  directors  of  the  company  a  board  conipo.sid 
of  "grave  and  prudent  pcrsuns, "  and  this  board  appointed 
Sebastian  Cabot  governor  of  the  company.  + 

In  fitting  out  tliis  expedition  the  precaution  was  taken  for 
the  first  time  in  England  to  cover  the  ships'  bottoms  with  a 
thin  leaf  of  lead,  to  protect  them  from  the  worms  whicliot'ttn 
bored  through  the  hardest  oak.+  It  \vus  a  precaution  the  Span- 
iards had  used  for  sometime,  and  Biddlo,  observing tliattlioy 
first  put  it  in  practice  in  1514,  two  years  after  Sebastian  Cabot 
v/ent  over  to  King  Ferdinand's  service,  and  considering  liis 
rapid  progress  in  his  career,  is  inclined  to  believe  it  was  tirsf 
proposed  by  him.§ 

But  Cabot  was  not  exempt  from  annoyance  and  opi)osition 
even  among  the  English.  It  would  indeed  have  been  strange 
if  ignorance  and  malice  could  see  a  new  fact  of  great  import- 
ance in  preparation  and  keep  silent  and  not  attempt  in  some 
way  to  attack  and  bite  it.  Cabot  himself,  in  §32  of  liis  in- 
structions for  this  voyage,  which  we  shall  see  further  on,  iilludes 

to  the  difficulties  he  encountered  from "suspicion  in  some 

heads  that  this  voyage  could  not  succede  for  the  extreinitie  of 
the  North  pole,  lacke  of  passage,  and  such  like,  which  have 

cbargevl,  a  course  was  taken,  that  every  man  willing  to  be  of  the  societic, 
should  disburse  the  purtion  of  twentie  and  five  pounds  apiece  ;  so  that  in  a 
short  tinne  by  this  meanes  the  summe  of  sixe  thousand  pounds  beinsj  gathered, 
the  three  shippes  were  bouirht,"  Hulduyt,  ib.  ib. 

*"Chiamasi  la  lor  compagnia  la  conipagnia  dei  Mercanti  del  Catliais, 
over  della  Russia."  Ramuslo,  Preface  already  cited.  ■  v 

f'Sebastian  Cabot ....  governor  of  the  Marcantes  of  Cathay  "  .  .  . .  Eden, 
fol.  249. 

%  Hakluyt  i,  270.  §  Memoir  i,  p.  188. 


VARIATION  OP  THE  MAGNETIC  NEEDLE. 


289 


caused  wavering  minds,  and  doubtful  heads,  not  only  to  with- 
draw themselves  from  the  adventure  of  this  voyage,  but  also 
(lisswadcd  others  from  the  same. .  .  ."*  It  is  probably  at  the 
time  when  he  was  getting  this  expedition  ready  that  the  con- 
versation occurred  in  which  Sebastian  Cabot  explained  to  King 
Edward  the  declination  of  the  magnetic  needle;  from  which  ho 
was  given  the  glory  of  being  the  first  to  observe  that  strange 
phenomenon.  The  matter  is  related  byLivy  Sanudo,in  the 
First  Book  of  his  Geography,  published  in  1588, in  these  words: 
"I  had  been  for  many  years  a  friend  of  a  genHeman  named 
Guide  Gianneti  di  Fano,  a  :nan  orthy  of  esteem  and  n  flec- 
tion for  his  erudition  and  virtuous  habits,  and  from  him  I 
tirst  heard  with  wonder  tiiat  tho  needle  of  the  compass  for 
navigation  rubbed  with  a  loadstone  does  not  always  indicate 
the  meridian  of  the  observer,  but  a  place  some  degrees  dis- 
tant from  that  meridian  ;  wliicli  place  however  distant  is  still 
shown  by  the  needle,  now  at  that  meridian,  and  now  a  little, 
I  and  again  a  good  deal  away  from  it :  and  that  Sebastian 
Cabot,  a  Venetian,  a  most  excellent  Pilot  taught  by  experience 
and  by  the  observations  which  he  had  made  when  sailing  to  the 
Indies,  was  the  discoverer  of  this  secret  :  which  he  afterwards 
I  disclosed  to  the  (jsoui  serene  King  of  England,  with  whom  Gi- 
anneti ( as  I  have  heard  from  others  ),  was  present  and 
greatly  honored  :  and  he  showed  at  the  same  time  what 
this  distance  was,  and  that  it  did  not  appear  the  same  at  every 
place."  f  But  the  fact  is,  that  before  Cabot,  Christopher  Co- 
lumbus had  observed  this  phenomenon,  on  the  13th  of  Sep- 
tember 1492,  as  he  wrote  in  his  journal  of  his  first  voyage  of 
discovery:  :j:  and  again  he  speaks  of  it  in  the  narrative  of  his 
[third  voyage  as  a  phenomenon  observed  on  his  previous  voy- 
[ages.  Consequently  there  can  be  no  question  as  to  the  pri- 
jority  of  his  observation,  and  they  are  in  error  who  gave  the 
[credit  to  Sebastian  Cabot.     But  though  he  observed  the  phe- 


'  V.  App.  Iviii. 

t  Qeogmfla  di  M.   Llvio  Saaudo,  ia  Vinegia,  appresso  Damiano  Zenaro. 
IIDLXXXVIII,  p.  2. 

t  See  also,  Fernando' Colombo,  cap.  xit— Ixiii.— Herrera,  Dec.  i,  lib.  i,  cap. 
[lO-Tarducci,  Life  of  Columbus,  i,  p.  131. 

19 


II., J    ^JJULppup  ,ipi 


^mm 


Ui  , 


290 


THE  LIFE  OF  SEBASTIAN  CABOT. 


nomenon  subsequently  to  Christopher  Columbus,  ho  had  a 
much  larger  field  for  observation  and  study,  especially  as  ho 
could  behold  it  in  the  two  opposite  climes  of  the  nortli  aiid  tin' 
south.  Whatever  explanation  of  it  Cabot  gave  to  King  Kd- 
ward,  for  Gianneti,  who  had  never  heard  of  the  phonmiKium, 
it  was  a  groat  wonder,  and  as  he  was  ignorant  of  tho  |)i(.. 
vious  observation  by  Christopher  Columbus,  ho  looked  on  it 
as  sometning  altogether  new. 

Did  Cabot  know  the  fact  about  Christopher  Ccdunilnis? 
It  seems  very  hard  to  believe  he  was  unaware  of  it,  considwinj; 
that  Columbus  was  not  the  only  one  to  remark  that  new  and 
strange  phenomenon,  but  his  companions  saw  it  likewise  and 
were  extremely  terrified  at  it ;  which  occasioned  his  wonderful 
promptness  in  finding  a  consistent  theory  to  exploin  it  and 
calm  their  minds.*  If  the  fact  was  remembered  in  the  Spanish 
marine,  no  one  would  be  more  likely  to  know  it  than  Cal)nt, 
as  Pilot-Major,  and  also  as  Instructor  of  cosmography  in  tlio 
Casa  de  Contratacion  at  Seville.     How  could  Cabot  repn^sent 
himself  as  the  first  observer  of  this  phenomenon,  I  say  not,  to  j 
Edward  VI  King  of  England  far  from  the  place  and  time  of] 
its  discovery,  but  to  the  Venetian  ambassador  Contarini,  with ! 
whom  he  was  making  an  agreement  to  sail  for  the  account  of 
Venice  ?f  Contarini  not  only  resided  in  Spain,  and  therefore 
in  a  position  to  know  of  Christopher  Columbus's  discovery,  and 
consequently  to  contradict  Cabot  on  the  spot  in  his  pretentious 
boast  ;  but  he  was  a  man  to  take  more  interest  than  any  one  j 
else  in  such  phenomenon,  if  the      istorian   Peter  Martyr  D' 
Anghiera  applied  to  him  for  advice  and  explanation  in  thej 
diflficulties  he  met  with  in  cosmography. :j:     And  yet  the  mat- 


♦Journal  of  C.  Columbus,  Sept.  17,  1492.— Fernando  Colombo,  Ilistorit,\ 
cap.  xix.— Taiducci,  Life  of  Columbus,  j,  131—132. 

t  See  ch.  xiii. 

X  A  Spanish  ship  arriving  at  one  of  the  Moluccas  found  that  it  was  Tliiirs- j 
day  whereas  the  Spaniard's  calculation  showed  that  it  ought  to  be  Wednesday;! 
and  they  were  all  sure  tliat  there  was  no  error  in  their  calculation.— From  thisj 
they  came  to  suspect  that  llie  course  of  time  fr^m  our  shores  to  those  regi»ns| 
must  have  caused  the  difference.  Peter  Martyr,  having  to  relate  this  matter  in  j 
his  Decades,  did  not  know  what  to  think  ibout  it,  and  to  put  himself  atl 
ease  be  bad  recourse  to  the  great  learning  of  Coatariai  :    "  Quando  ad  Gorj 


WTLLOTTonnv's  expedition. 


291 


Colombo,  BistorM 


ter  was  altogether  new  to  Contariiii,  as  appears  from  his  letter 
to  the  Council  of  Ten,  of  December  31,  1532,  in  which  ho 
says:  "Piscoursing  with  me  on  many  questions  of  geography, 
iinioiigHt  other  things  he  told  me  that  he  had  observed  by 
means  of  the  compass  how  to  know  the  distance  between  two 
places  from  the  east  to  the  west,  which  was  very  beautiful  and 
wrcr  he/ore  observed  fry  othci'H,  as  your  serenity  may  asccrtiiiii 
fiDin  liim  when  ho  arrives."*  Nor  could  Peter  Martyr  D' 
Aii<,'liicra  have  known  of  it,  as  ho  does  not  mention  it  in  his 
Dt'nulos  on  matters  of  the  Ocean.  Hence  we  are  driven  to  the 
conclusion  that  the  memory  ofthe  discovery  made  by  Colum- 
bus was  entirely  lost  in  the  outcries  of  joy  on  his  first  return,an(l 
tlio  complaints  and  calamities  which  came  after  :  and  it  only 
iviiiainod  recorded  in  his  Journal,  from  which  it  was  only 
luouglit  out  to  the  knovvledga  of  the  public  after  Sebastian 
Cabot's  death. 

(Jabot  prepared  an  explanationof  this  phenomenon  to  send 
with  two  charts  to  the  Emperor  and  the  Council  of  the  Indies. 
He  promised  himself  a  great  deal  from  his  work,  as  he  clearly 
gives  us  to  understand  in  his  letter  to  John  do  Samano.  Here 
are  his  words  :  "  I  intended  to  bring  it  [the  chart  which  Sa- 
mano had  asked  for]  myself  with  two  others  I  have  made  for 
his  Majesty.  I  believe  His  Majesty  and  the  gentlemer.  of  the 
council  will  be  satisfied  with  it,  for  they  will  see  how  one 
can  sail  in  a  circuit  by  means  of  its  courses,  as  is  done  by  a 
card,  and  the  reason  why  the  needle  northeasts  and  northwests 
(varies  to  the  east  or  west)  and  why  it  was  to  do  it,  and  must 
nortlieast  or  northwest  so  many  points  before  it  comes  to 
point  to  the  north,  and  in  what  meridian,  and  with  this  His 
Majesty  will  have  a  sure  rule  for  taking  the  longitude,  "f  But 


Unnes  navia  hsee  regressa  fiiit,  diem  fiiisse   Mercurii  arbitiabantur,  Jovis  esse 

repererunt— Unde  diem  unum  in  eo  discursu  aiunt  sibi  ablatum,  ea  tritim 

annorum  intercapedine. . . .  Agitatus  ea  ciira  conveni  Gasparem  Contarinum, 

joratDrem  apud  caesaiem  pro  sua  iUuatri  Repnblica  Veneta,  omni  liUeranim 

Ipenere  non  mediocriter  enidltiim."    Dec.  v,   cap.   7.  — It  is  needless  to  say 

I  tliat  I  relate  tbis  anecdote  merely  as  a  proof  of  Contarini's  learning  and  of  the 

|estimation  in  which  be  was  held  on  questions  of  cosmography. 

*  See  App.  xxvi. 

t  "pense  de  llevarla  yo  mismo  con  ntras  dos  que  tengo  fecho  para  su  ma* 


292 


THE  LIFE  OF  SEBASTIAN  CABOT. 


only  enough  of  this  writing  of  his  is  left  to  make  us  hono 
that  the  rest  may  some  time  bo  brought  to  Ught.  Rioliaid  Kdon 
relates  that  Sebastian  Cabot  on  his  death-bed,  claimed  topo.v 
seas  by  divine  revelation  a  new  and  infallible  way  of  doter- 
mining  longitude,  but  which  he  could  disclose  to  no  luortiil.* 
Tiiis  now  and  infallible  method  was  that  of  finding  the  Ion- 
gitudo  by  means  of  the  arc  of  variation  made  by  the  niiiffiu'tic 
needle,  which  was  supposed  to  bo  parallel  to  the  meiidiun.  + 
Wo  know  not  when  Cabot  first  made  use  of  this  method  ;  still 
he  was  certainly  anticipated  by  Columbus,  who  deterniinodii.s- 
tronomically  a  line  without  declination,  on  September  13, 
1 192  :  :{:  and  on  his  second  voyage  in  1496,  uncertain  of  his 
position,  he  ascertained  it  by  observations  of  the  deeliniitioiis,  § 

In  the  beginning  of  May,  1553,  the  ships  were  ready  to  sail. 
Sir  Hugh  Willoughby  was  appointed  to  the  command  .of  the 
expedition,  and  had  with  him  as  chief  pilot  Richard  Cluui- 
cellor,  and  as  masters  William  Geflferson,  Stephen  Burrcuf,di, 
and  Cornelius  Durfoorth.| 

Each  of  the  three  ships  took  along  for  its  service  a  boat  and 
a  small-boat.  The  flag-siiip  was  named  Bona  Sporanzu,  of  I'iO 
tons;  the  Edward  Bonaventure  was  of  160,  and  the  Bona 


gestad  creo  que  au  magestad  y  los  sefiores  del  CoDsejo  quedaraa  sntisfechos 
ilella  porque  veran  come  se  puede  navegar  por  redondo  por  sus  derotascome 
se  ace  por  una  carta  y  la  causa  porque  oordestear  y  noruestea  la  guya  y  como 
es  foryoso  que  lo  baga  y  que  tantas  quartas  a  de  nordestear  y  noruestcur  antes 
que  torna  a  bolverse  acia  el  norte  yten  que  meridiano  y  con  esto  terra  su  ma- 
gestad la  regla  cierta  para  tomar  la  longltud."  V.  App.  xlil. 

*  In  the  letter  of  dedication  of  bis  translation  of  John  Taisnerus's  work, 
already  cited. 

t  A.  Humboldt,  Cosmos,  iv,  50.  %  See  his  JourDal. 

§  Fernanda  Colombo,  cap.  63.— Humboldt,  lb. 

|Tbe  following  note  will  show  the  meaning  of  the  term  master:— "Dans  ccs 
sortes  de  campagnes,  il  faut  bien  distinguer  le  commandement  niilitairc  du 
commandement  maritime.  L'  offlcier  que  le  souverain  a  pourvu  d'une  commis 
sion  est  'le  capitaine  ';  celui  que  la  compagnie  iavestit  du  soin  de  preparercl 

de  manoeuvrer  le    navire    s'apelle    'le  master'    ou    'le    maitre'   Le 

maitrc  et  le  pilote  out  pen  de  chose  tl  faire  quaud  I'escadre  a  pour  chef  un  \ 
Christophe  Colomb  ou  un  Magellan.  Leur  tdche  garde  plus  d'imporlancc  sice 
chef  s'appelle  sir  Thomas  Pert,  Cortfo,  Albuquerque  ou  Vasco  de  Gama"  -  j 
Vice-Amiral  Jurien  de  la  Qravi^re  id  the  Reme  dea  De" »;  V.>n/f/?«,  15  Juin  1876, 
p.  772. 


ii- 


cabot'h  inhtkuctionh. 


203 


Confidontia,  of  00.  Even  tlm  ship's  imnios  show  {\w  slroiij; 
(DiilidDiico  all  luul  in  tho  succh'sh  ol'tho  eiitcrpriso.  'V\\v  lirst 
(iirrieda  crowof4G  nion,  thosocoiidof  4cS,  and  tho  third  of2M 
Tlio  flii^'-ship  was  coiniuandud  hy  Sir  Un^h  Willou^^hhy  in 
person,  with  William  Gollerson  for  Master;  Jvidiiird  ('hanc(dlor 
tomniiindod  tho  second  with  Stepluiii  Hurrou^h  as  nuistcr. 
The  Good  Contidonco  had  Cornelius  Durfoorth  hoth  as  coni- 
iiiandcr  and  master.* 

As  (Jhristopher  Columbus  had  doni^  on  his  first  voyage,  Wil- 
loiighby  took  letters  from  Kin^  Edward  Vl  for  the  Kin^s  or 
iVinoes  ho  should  moot  on  his  way,  written  in  Latin,  (Jroek, 
mid  many  other  languages,  and  dated  tho  14th  of  Fidn-uary 
of  tho  year  of  tho  creation  of  the  world  5515.  Although  tho 
cxpodition  was  commanded  by  a  General,  its  purpose  was 
purely  and  simply  mercantile,  and  Edward's  letter  to  the 
Princes  and  chiefs  of  places  and  tribes  that  should  bo  met 
with  on  the  way  to  Cathay,  only  contemplated  entering  into 
treaties  of  amity  with  those  peoples  for  tho  interest  and  profit 
of  both  parties.!  Sebastian  Cabot  delivered  to  Willoughby 
Ills  instructions  for  the  voyage,  consisting  of  thirty-three  par- 
agraphs, which  form  a  document  of  value  not  only  on  account 
of  his  great  sense  and  experience,  but  also  of  his  goodness  of 
heart.  He  resembles  a  father  about  to  start  his  young  son 
on  his  first  journey  in  the  world,  with  no  experience  of  men 
or  affairs  :  he  would  seem  to  want  to  point  out  each  step  of 
the  way,  advise  and  warn  him  of  every  thing,  and  never  tiro 
of  repeating  his  counsels  and  admonitions.  They  are  dated  on 
the  eve  of  sailing,  May  0, 1553.+  Their  excessive  length  makes 
it  impossible  to  give  them  in  full  ;  whoever  desires  to  know 
thein  will  find  them  in  the  Appendix.  But  special  mention 
must  be  made  of  the  minute  and  wise  rules  concerning  tho 
internal  discipline  of  the  ships,  the  relations  of  the  sailors  to 
each  other,  of  inferiors  to  the  commander,  and  his  to  them. 
The  poor  old  man  in  writing  these  admonitions  may  perhaps 
have  felt  the  wound,  which  never  had  healed,  of  wiiat  ho 
had  to  suffer  in  his  expedition  to  the  Moluccas,  open  afresh. 


•Hakln^^.ch.  i,  p.238.  t^d.eft.  p. 


X  See  App.  Ivl. 


1 

i 

^B 

!■'.  -• 

''% 

a ; 

"    ,..Mf 

w'pwp^ 


K*^-*-^ 


294 


THE  LIFL  OF  SEBASTIAN  CABOT. 


The  orders  he  gave  on  the  observations  to  Ls  set  down  as 
soon  as  they  discover  new  lands,  in  the  judgment  of  Vice- Ad- 
miral Jurien  de  la  Graviere,  give  a  new  direction  which  has 
always  since  been  followed  by  maritime  expeditious.  Before 
that  time,  with  boldness  of  resolution,  and  unconqucrod  free- 
dom, advancing  in  face  of  the  perils  of  the  unknown,  tliey 
were  under  the  doxninion  of  fancy,  which  with  the  attraction 
of  poetical  imagery  clothed  and  embellished  the  contests  and 
fears  of  the  cruel  work  of  those  heroes:  henceforth  it  is  the  cal- 
culating coldness  of  the  mathematician  which  watches,  ob- 
serves, notes,  connects  together  facts  and  accidents,  exuniines 
and  compares  them  ;  and  from  the  past  with  imperturb- 
able calm  draws  a  rule  and  guide  for  the  future.  In  tliis  way 
the  "log-book''  was  first  instituted  on  this  memorable  occa- 
sion.* 

"§  7.  Item,  that  the  marchants,"  say  the  Instructions,  "and 
other  skilful  persons  in  writing,  shal  daily  write,  descriho,  and 
put  in  memorie  the  navigation  of  every  day  and  night,  with 
the  points,  and  observations  of  the  lands,  tides,  elements, 
altitude  of  the  sunne,  course  of  the  moon  and  starres,  and  tlic 
same  so  noted  by  the  order  of  the  Master  and  pilot  of  every 
ship  to  be  put  in  writing,  the  captaine  generall  assembling 
the  masters  together  once  every  weeke  (if  wiude  and  weather 
shal  serve)  to  conferre  all  the  observations  and  notes  of  the 
said  ships,  to  the  intent  it  may  appeare  wherein  the  notes  do 
agree,  and  wherein  they  dissent,  and  upon  go  ^  debatcment, 
deliberation  and  conclusion  determined,  to  put  the  same  into 
a  common  leger,  to  remain  of  record  for  the  company; 
the  like  order  to  be  kept  in  proportioning  of  the  Cardes, 
Astrolabes,  and  other  instruments  prepared  for  the  voyage,  at 
the  charge  of  the  companie." 

"§  27.  Item  the  names  of  the  people  of  every  island,  are  to 
be  taken  in  v/xiting,  with  the  commodities  and  incomraodi- 
ties  of  the  same,  their  natures,  qualities  and  dispositions,  the 
site  of  the  same,  and  what  things  they  are  most  desirous  of. 


*  '  Ainsi  fiitinstitufi  pour  la  premiere  fois,  dans  cette  occasion  memorable, 
to  Jouroal  de  Botd."  Reaue  des  Deux  Mondes,  I.  c.  p.  774. 


SAILING  OF  WILLOUGHBY. 


295 


casion  mSmorable, 


anu  what  commodities  they  wil  most  willingly  depart  with, 
and  what  mettals  they  have  in  hils,  mountaines,  streamos,  or 
rivers,  in  or  under  the  earth." 

The  conduct  he  points  out  to  be  observed  towards  the  new 
peoples  they  went  on  discovering  shows  the  long  study  he 
•nusjt  have  iTiade  on  his  voyages,  of  the  character  of  tjie  pop- 
ulations when  first  beholding  our  men  with  their  ships  and  ar- 
mour. "For  as  much,"  he  says  §  23,  "as  our  people,  and 
sliippes  "^  y  appear  unto  them  strange  and  wonderous,  and 
theirs  also  to  ours  :  it  is  to  be  considered,  how  they  may  be 
used,  learning  much  of  their  natures  and  dispositions,  by 
some  one  such  person,  as  you  may  first  either  allure,  or  take 
to  be  brought  aboord  your  ships,  and  there  to  learn  as  you  may, 
without  violence  or  force,  and  no  woman  to  be  tempted, 
or  intreated  to  incontinencie,  or  dishonestie." 

"  §  26.  Item  every  nation  and  region  to  be  considered 
advisedly,  and  not  to  provoke  them  by  any  disdaine, 
laughing,  contempt,  or  such  like,  but  to  use  them  with 
prudent  circumspection,  with  al  gentlenes  and  curtesie,  and 
not  to  tary  long  in  one  place,  untill  you  shall  have  at- 
tained the  most  worthy  place  yi  may  be  found,  in  such 
so't,  as  you  may  returne  *  t  victuals  sufficient  prosperously.  " 

Some  may  perhaps  regard  as  superfluous  the  care  and 
directions  he  gives  for  keeping  alive  in  seamen  the. 
sentiment  of  religion,  and  the  practice  of  those  exercises 
which  grow  out  of  it  and  by  reciprocal  action  maintain 
and  strengthen  it.  But  I  am  of  a  different  opinion,  and 
Ido  not  appeal  in  support  of  my  opinion  to  the  different  way 
of  feeling  and  thinking  in  the  XVI  century  in  contrast 
with  the  unbelief  or  indifference  of  the  XIX  century. 
No,  I  believe  that  at  all  times  and  in  every  place  what- 
ever may  be  the  authority,  it  ought  to  desire  and  take  pains 
to  keep  alive  this  flame  in  the  heart  of  the  people  ;  for  when 
it  is  living  and  rightly  directed,  it  is  the  soundest  and  safest 
guide  in  all  cases  and  in  all  the  circumstances  of  human  life. 
Cabot,  then,  devoted  h*3  attention  likewise  to  this  and 
reminded  his  mariners  to  act  "for  duetie  and  conscience  sake 
towards  God,  under  whose  mercifuU  hand  navigants  above  all 


■;■(: 


296 


THE  LIFE  OP  SEBASTIAN  CABOT. 


:i;t1 


^i^  A' 


;M>  ljii|||iBH|i 
'i  •  ™ 


Vi- 

"  H 

H 

■i 

I 

] 

ilBi 

, 

■ 

1 

nlf 

■'.;" 

H 

■l 

piv 

1 

m^ 

i*---"-  - 

1 

other,  creatures  naturally  bee  most  nigh  and  vicine  ;"  *  then  In 
his  Instructions  he  prescribes,  §  12  :  "that  no  blasphcmin^r  of 
God,  or  detestable  swearing  be  used  in  any  ship,  nor 
communication  ofribaldrie,  filthy  tales,  Ox- ungodly  talke  lobe 
su  Tred  in  the  company  of  any  ship,  neither  dicing,  card- 
ing, tabling,  nor  other  divelish  games  to  be  frequented, 
whereby  ensueth  not  onely  povertie  to  the  players,  but 
also  strife,  wariance,  brawling,  fighting,  and  oftentimes 
murther  to  the  utter  destruction  of  the  parties  and  provokinjf 
of  God's  most  iust  wrath,  and  sworde  of  vengeance.  These 
and  all  such  like  pestilences,  and  occasions  of  vices,  and 
sinnesto  bee  eschewed,  and  the  offenders  once  monishcd,  and 
not  reforming,  to  bee  punished  at  the  discretion  of  the 
captaine  and    master,  as  appertaineth. 

"§  13.  Item,  that  morning  and  evening  prayer  with  other 
common  services  appointed  by  the  King's  Majestic,  and  lawes 
of  this  Realme  to  be  read  and  saide  in  every  ship  daily  by  the 
minister  in  the  Admirall,  and  the  marchant  or  some  other  per- 
son learned  in  other  ships,  and  the  Bible  or  paraphrases  to  bo 
read  devoutly  and  Christianly  to  God's  honour,  and  for  his 
grace  to  be  obtained  and  had  by  humble  and  heartie  praier 
of  the  Navigants  accordingly.  " 

On  the  20th  of  May,  1553,  the  squadron  of  the  expedition 
at  ebb  of  the  tide  set  sail  from  Ratcliffe,  and  slowly  moved 
down  the  river,  partly  towed  by  the  two  boats  which  each  shij) 
took  with  her  on  the  voyage,  f  The  court  was  then  at  Green- 
wich, hardly  a  mile  from  Deptford  where  the  vessels  stopped 
to  wait  and  take  advantage  of  the  ebb-tide  the  next  moi'ninp;4 
As  soon  as  the  squadron  was  spied  from  Greenwich,  the 
King's  Privy  Council,  which  was  in  session,  adjourned  and 
the  whole  court  was  in  motion  ;  not  only  the  windows  were 
filled  with  courtiers.  Knights,  and  Ladies,  but  the  walks 
of  the  towers  likewise,  whilst  the  more  youthful  raced  to  the 


*S33. 

t  Ratcliffe  is  a  place  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Thames  about  two  miles  and 
a  half  above  Greenwich. 

t  Deptford  is  on  the  right  bank  of  the  Thames  a  mile  and  a  half  below  Hat- 
cliffe. 


willoughby's  fate. 


297 


river  bank  to  give  a  nearer  salute  to  the  brothers  who  were 
leaving  on  the  great  voyage.  As  to  the  common  people, 
they  all  left  their  houses  ;  no  one  not  absolutely  prevented 
would  miss  the  spectacle  and  the  salute.  On  the  other  hand, 
as  soon  as  the  ships  were  in  view  of  the  Royal  R,esidence,  the 
seamen  all  dressed  for  parade  were  in  a  twinkling  on  the  deck 
or  climbing  the  masts,  and  while  from  one  side  the  artillery 
was  discharged,  mariners  and  merchants  with  all  their  might 
gave  a  last  salute  to  their  King  and  country  ;  from  the  banks 
of  the  river  and  the  balconies  and  towers  of  the  Royal  Palace 
there  was  a  continual  burst  of  hurrahs  and  clapping  of  hands 
in  encouragement  and  fervent  auguries  of  good  fortune  on 
their  voyage.* 

Alas  !  a  sad  note  disturbs  the  harmony  of  so  many  voices, 
and  augurs  ill  for  the  fate  awaiting  the  expedition.  Edward 
VI,  at  whose  name  the  ships  made  every  hill  and  plain  echo 
their  shouts,  was  not  with  the  rejoicing  people  ;  he  lay  in  his 
room,  slowly  wasting  away,  and  died  soon  after.  Fortunate 
m  dying  in  his  bed,  comforted  by  the  last  words  of  his  friends 
and  relatives,  whilst  the  most  of  those  who  saluted  him  soon 
followed  him  into  the  dominions  of  Death  by  the  most  cruel 
and  fearful  end  imaginable,  f 

It  is  outside  of  our  plan  to  follow  the  course  of  the  expedi- 
tion, but,  as  the  work  of  Sebastian  Cabot,  it  would  leave 
a  void  in  our  narrative  if  we  omitted  it  altogether.  We  accord- 
ingly give  a  few  brief  notices  or  rather  mere  mention  of 
its  course  and  end. 

The  fleet  on  June  28  lost  sight  of  England  and  entered  the 
'ividc  sea  driven  on  its  northerly  course  by  a  fair  wind  ;  but 
then  the  wind  changed,  and  changed  again,  and  continued  to 
vary  for  many  days,  rendering  the  voyage  very  fatiguing  by 

*  Hakluyt,  vol.  l,p.  272.— Prom  Ricliard  Chancellor's  narrative. 

t  Chancellor's  narrative  drawn  up  in  Latin  by  Clement  Adams,  who  had  it 
from  Chancellor's  own  mouth,  puts  the  departure  from  Ratcliffe  on  May  20, 
whereas  Willoughby's  journal  says  it  was  the  lOih  of  the  mouth.  But  the 
variance  is  merely  apparent,  they  both  give  substantially  the  same  day,  for 
Willoughby  follows  the  old  Calendar  approved  in  825  by  the  Nicene  Council; 
Clement  Adams  regulates  the  date  according  to  the  Caleudar  as  reformed  un- 
der Pope  Gregory  XIII. 


-     J, 
...j^:Mi.i; 


H-\t 


t  •   . 


l^W    r 


r- 


:  I 


!:  -t 


'^ 


i 


:>il 


/■ ,  ^-  :.jv.;:»'Or'a-;-'-v' 


298 


THE  LIFE  OF  SEBASTIAN  CABOT. 


reason  of  the  continual  changes  of  the  ships  which  became 
necessary  in  consequence.      July  14  they  discovered  land  to 
the  east.      The  place  showed  some  thirty  huts,  but  not  a  liv- 
ing soul;  perhaps  the  inhabitants  had  fled  in  fright  on  behold- 
ing the  ships.       Continuing  on,  they  discovered  a  number  of 
small  islands,  and  on  the  27th,  they  stopped  at  one  of  them  and 
remained  three  days  there,  but  they  were  unable  to  learn  how 
far  they  were  from  the  mainland.     They  were  now  at  68°  of 
latitude.     Departing  on  the  20th,  they  took  to  coasting  along 
these  islands  till   August  2,  when  they  reached  the  shore  lo 
ascertain  what  place  they  had  come  to  :  they  were  now  at  70°. 
A  boat  put  out  from  the  shore  at  sight  of  them  and  came  to 
the  ships,  from  which  they  learned  that  the  place  was  a  small 
island  named  Seynam,  poor,  with  no  other  products  than  a  Ut- 
tle  dried  fish  and  fish-oil.  As  they  wanted  to  reach  Finmark  * 
they  asked  for  a  pilot  to  guide  thera  thither.  They  were  told 
they  could  have  one,  but  must  wait  for  him  till  the  next  day. 
Then,  being  assured  that  the  island  had  a  good  harbor,  they 
started  to  enter  it.     But  both  sides  of  the  entrance  were  very 
high,  and  the  vessels  had  hardly  reached  the  opening  when 
so  violent   a  wind  suddenly  sprang  up  that,  to  avoid  be- 
ing dashed  on  the  rocks,  they  had  to  go  about  quickly  and  take 
to  the  open  sea.  But  the  wind  was  so  fierce  that  to  make 
their  condition  less  desperate  they  had  to  take  in  all  sails  and 
trust  their  fortune  to  the  control  of  the  waves.      The  follow- 
ing night  the  fury  of  the  wind  increased,  accompanied  with 
so  dense  a  fog  that  the  ships  lost  all  sight  of  each  other.    At 
midnight  the  Bona  Speranza  lost  her  boat,  a  serious  loss  in  the 
sort  of  navigation  she  had  to  make.     Daylight  dispelled  the 
fog,  and  when  the  ships  looked  for  one  another  in  the  morn- 
ing, the  Bona  Speranza  and  Confidentia  were  found  safe,  but 
the  Edward  Bonaventure  had  disappeared.      This  separation 
occurred  in  the  neighborhood  of  Cape  North. 

The  voyage  after  this  was  one  continual  struggle  against 
storms  :  the  ships  were  driven  furiously  to  one  side  or  the 


*  Finmark,  i.  e.  Marsbea  or  Borders  of  the  Finns,  the  most  northerly  prov- 
iDce  of  Norway :  its  most  northern  point  is  Cape  North. 


NEW  EXPEDITIONS. 


299 


other,  often  obliged  to  go  over  the  same  course  a  second 
time,  in  constant  fear  for  the  present  and  dread  of  the 
future.  What  became  of  the  Bona  Spernaza  is  not  known  ; 
all  trace  of  her  was  lost.  The  Confidentia  was  able  to 
gain  a  harbor  on  the  18th  of  September,  and  as  the  season 
was  growing  severer,  and  snows  and  frosts  heralded  the  ap- 
proach of  Winter's  horrors,  they  determined  to  stay  there  and 
wait  for  the  favorable  season.  They  sent  out  bands  of  ex- 
plorers in  every  direction  to  ascertain  whether  the  land  was  in- 
habited, but  after  much  wandering  around  and  penetrating  as 
far  as  four  days' journey  into  the  interior,  they  all  returned  say- 
ing they  had  not  been  successful. 

There  in  that  harbor  in  the  Spring  of  the  following  year 
tliey  were  all  found  dead.  We  know  not  what  they  suffered, 
and  perhaps  our  imagination  is  impotent  to  conceive  of  all 
the  horrors  they  endured.  The  details  of  their  course  were 
found  recorded  in  the  Journal  of  the  voyage  written  in  his  own 
band  by  Sir  Hugh  Willoughby.  It  begins  in  this  way  : 
"The  voyage  intended  for  the  discoverie  of  Catay,  and 
divers  other  regions,  dominions.  Islands,  and  places  un- 
knowen,  set  forth  by  the  right  worshipful  master  Sebastian 
Cabota "* 

The  Journal  ends  with  the  18th  of  September,  the  day 
when  they  took  refuge  in  the  harbor  ;  but  it  is  likely  that 
the  greater  part  of  them  were  still  alive  in  the  following  Jan- 
uary, for  under  date  of  that  month  was  found  the  Will  of 
Gabriel  Willoughby,  a  relative  of  Sir  Hugh,  and  subscribed 
by  Sir  Hugh  himself.f 

Why  did  Sir  Hugh  write  nothing  more  in  his  Journal  after 
the  18th  of  September  ?  We  are  unable  to  answer.  All  we 
can  conjecture  with  tolerable  safety  is  that  they  all  perished 
from  cold  :  this  was  inferred  from  the  appearance  of  their 
bodies.  •■    '  " 

This  was  the  first  notable  step  in  the  long  journey  that  was 
to  be  made  before  the  undertaking  set  on  foot  by  the  genius  of 
Sebastian  Cabot  in  1553  was  brought  to  a  close  in  1879,  after 


*Hakluyt,i,  p.  258. 


t  Hakluyt,  i,  260  &  s. 


I.  < 


■ 

1       t 
1 

.     t- 

^^H|| 

:.l 

iHpiK' 

mHmi 

-:  '.'  S 

naiiii,  1 

■1  .M 

PmHI  ''  ' 

m 

...    .   IM       .  ......J^ii^ 

.Ji 

,  I,  lll«f 


300 


THE  LIFE  OF  SEBASTIAN  CABOT. 


■•f  f 


h   ,  ^ 

i  !      •' 
I 


IfM 


fSTT'TV- 


32G  years  of  attempts  and  enormous  labors  ;  before  a  slii  p  leav- 
ing our  shores  triumphed  over  the  dangers  and  terrors  of  the 
V  frozen  seas  and  succeeded  in  reaching  the  seas  of  China.* 
King  Edward  expired  a  few  days  after  Sir  Hugh  suiled.f 
He  was  succeeded  on  the  throne  by  his  sister  Mary,  daughter 
of  Henry  VIII  and  Katharine  of  Aragon.  In  the  second  year 
of  Mary's  reign,  1555,  Richard  Chancellor,  commander  of  the 
Edward  Bona  venture,  returned.  After  several  days  of  vain 
attempts  to  join  his  companions,  he  decided  on  continuing  the 
voyage  alone,  undaunted  by  the  excessive  misfortunes  en- 
dured; and  so  was  the  first  European  to  reach  Archangel  in 
the  White  Sea.ij:  Leaving  his  ship  there,  he  went  by  land  to 
Moscow  to  have  an  interview  with  the  Tsar  of  Moscovy  or  Rus- 
sia, and  open  direct  relations  of  commerce  between  those  coun- 
tries and  England, — a  journey  of  fearful  length  considering  the 
times,  the  country,  and  the  people  through  wh;ch  Chancellor 
had  to  pass.  After  an  absence  of  two  years,  the  intrepid  ex- 
plorer returned,  and  his  arrival  with  favorable  letters  from 
Ivan  Basilivich,  Emperor  of  all  theRussias,  excited  indescrib- 
able rejoicing  not  less  in  the  commercial  body  than  at  court.; 
Then  was  comprehended  the  great  advantages  England  might 
gain  through  the  company  of  merchant  adventurers  for  her 
trade  with  Russia  and  China;  and  to  assure  and  strengthen  the 
company's  continuance  and  activity,the  gove  rnment  by  charter 
of  February  6,  1555,  granted  it  the  right  of  a  corporation.  The 
Act  of  Incorporation,  recognizing  that  it  was  wholly  the  re- 
sult of  Sebastian  Cabot's  zeal  and  ability,  not  only  confirmed 
his  appointment  by  the  company  as  governor,  but  conferred 
on  him  that  office  for  life.||    The  merchants  on  their  part 


*  The  expedition  of  the  Vega,  a  Scottish  ship,  directed  by  Nordenskloeld. 

file  died  July  6,  1553. 

X  [Of  course,  the  author  means  the  first  European  to  ireach  there  by  way  o( 
the  Atlantic  and  Arctic  Oceans.— Translator.] 

g  Hakluyt,  i,  p.  270  and  s. 

{  "  And  In  consideration  that  one  Sebastian  Cabota  hath  been  the  cliiefest 
setter  forth  of  this  journey  or  voyage,  therefore  we  malice,  ordeine  and  consti 
tute  him,  the  said  Sebastian,  to  be  the  first  and  present  Governourof  the  same  | 
fellowship  and  communaltle  by  these  presents,  to  have  and  enjoy  the  st 
office  of  Oovernour  to  bim  the  aaid  Sebastiaa  Oabota,  cluriog  bis  naturall  life, 


Cabot's  pension  renewed. 


301 


lost  no  time  in  fitting  out  another  fleet  of  three  ships,  and  sup- 
plying them  with  every  thing  useful,  sent  them  on  their  voy- 
age in  the  following  May.* 

The  pension  granted  Gabot  by  King  Edward  was  renewed 
November  27  of  this  year,  f  Why  this  renewal,  if  that 
pension  was,  as  we  said,  for  life  ?  Biddle,  observing  that  in 
the  order  of  renewal  there  was  no  mention  made  of  the  time 
that  had  elapsed  since  Edward's  death,  suspects  that  the 
pension  had  been  withdrawn.;}:  If  that  was  the  case,  and  I 
believe  it  was,  it  was  doubtless  owing  to  the  rejoicing  excited 
by  Chancellor's  return  that  the  government  felt  forced  to 
renew  this  pension  for  the  services  of  the  aged  Cabot. 

Chancellor,  soon  after  his  return,  sailed  ngain  for  Archangel 
bearing  the  reply  of  the  English  Monarch  to  the  letter  of 
the  Russian  Emperor.  The  next  year,  155G,  Stephen 
Burrough,  master  of  Sir  Hugh  Willoughby's  yessel  on  the 
late  voyage,  sailed  with  a  small  vessel  to  make  further 
explorations  of  the  passage  sought  for  by  the  north-east  seas.  § 
He  left  a  narrative  of  his  voyage,  and  at  its  commencement 
there  is  a  passage  concerning  Sebastian  Cabot  which  shows 
with  what  loving  anxiety  and  joyful  ardor  the  venerable  old 
man  followed  the  first  steps  of  the  undertaking  he  had  thought 
out  and  set  on  its  way.  Burrough 's  vessel  was  at  Gravesend, 
and  it  was  now  the  27th  of  April,  the  eve  of  sailing.  But  it 
is  best  to  give  the  account  in  his  own  words  : 

"The  27  April  being  Munday,  the  right  worshipful  Sebastian 
Cabota  came  aboord  our  Pinnesse  at  Gravesende,  accompanied 
with  divers  Gentlemen  and  Gentlewomen,  who  after  that 
they  had  viewed  our  Pinnesse,  and  tasted  of  such  cheere  as 
we  could  make  them  aboord,  they  went  on  shore,  giving 

without  amoviag  or  dismissing  from  the  same  roome."  Haltluyt  i,  p.  299. 
V.  App.  Ivii. 

*  John  Miciiiel,  Veaetian  ambassador  in  England,  mentions  it  in  two  dis- 
patches. May  31  and  November  4,  1555  (Files  of  Dispatches  marked  "Inchll 
terra,"  iu  the  State  Records  at  Venice).  Rawdon  Biowu  published  an  English 
transbition  of  them  in  his  Calendar, vul.  vi,  part  i,  pp.  76  and  338  ;  and  Luigi  Pa- 
M  the  original  Italian  ia  his  worii  "I  Niivigatori  al  Polo  Artico." 

t  Rymer,  Fojdera,  vol.  xv^  p.  427.  Sec  App.  Iviii. 

t  Biddle,  Memoir,  bk.  i,  ch.  xxzv,  p.  217.  g  Hakluyt,  i,  306. 


..3 


302 


THE  LIFE  OF  SEBASTIAN  CABOT. 


.V-    i?.fS 


to  our  mariners  right  liberal  rewards  ;  and  the  good  oldo 
Gentleman  Master  Cabota  gave  to  the  poore  most  lilxrall 
alraes,  wishing  them  to  pray  for  the  good  fortune,  and 
prosperous  suecesse  of  the  serchtkrist  our  Pinnessc.  And 
then  at  thes  signe  of  the  Christopher,  hee  and  his  friends 
banketted,  and  made  me  and  them  that  were  in  the  com- 
pany great  cheere  ;  and  for  very  joy  that  he  had  to  see 
the  towardness  of  our  intended  discovery,  he  intered  in- 
to tlie  dance  himselfe,  amongst  the  rest  of  the  youn^  and 
lusty  company  ;  which  being  ended,  hee  and  his  friend 
departed  most  gently,  commending  us  to  the  Governance 
of  Almighty  God."* 

Cabot  was  now  near  his  84th  year.  But  the  sight  of  the  ship 
awoke  in  him  all  the  spirits  and  enthusiasm  of  his  youth. 
and  in  the  midst  of  the  bold  young  men  who  were  marcliing 
to  the  longed-for  battles  of  the  winds  and  storms,  he  felt 
himself  young  again,  and  joined  them  in  the  dance  to 
celebrate  the  opening  of  the  new  Campaign. 


;  CHAPTER  XXV. 

Sebastian  Cabot's  Death. 

After  the  sailing  of  Stephen  Burrough,  it  again  grows 
dark  around  Cabot,  and  we  approach  the  conclusion  of 
his  life  with  the  painful  conviction  of  finding  there  ingr.atitude. 
Biddle  thought  the  cause  of  this  ingratitude  should  bo 
looked  for  in  the  religious  change  which  took  place  in  Enj^Kind 
when  Queen  Mary  ascended  the  throne,  and  in  the  antipathy 
which  she,  a  fervent  Catholic,  must  feel  towards  those 
who  had  enjoyed  the  protection  of  her  schismatical  fatl-or 
and  Protestant  brother.  But  when  ('abot  came  back  to  I'  i  ,'- 
land,  the  separation  from  the  Catholic  Church  was  com- 
plete ; — neither  before  nor  after  had  he  ever  taken  any  part 


*  Hakluyt,  vol.  i,  p.  306. 


PHILIP  Il'a  ILL-WILL. 


303 


in  religious  or  political  questions  ;  his  activity  was  exercised  in 
a  technical  field  where  Catholics  and  non-Catholics  took 
an  equal  interest,  and  the  advancement  of  the  English 
marine  was  a  glory  to  tempt  equally  any  king,  and  promised 
equal  aid  and  benefit  .to  his  power. 

On  the  contrary,  the  following  considerations  seem  to 
me  most  just.  Every  new  authority  that  obtains  the  govern- 
ment by  a  party  contrary  to  that  of  the  antecedent  authority, 
is  naturally  inclined  to  pursue  a  course  different  from  that  of 
its  predecessor,  and  to  seek,  from  the  necessity  of  its  own  pres- 
ervation, support  and  alliances  among  the  opponents  of  the 
fallen  authority.  Thus  in  our  present  case  we  see  that  the 
Steelyard  which  had  received  so  powerful  a  blow  from  the 
late  government,  succeeds  under  Mary's  government  in  loosen- 
ing to  some  extent  the  close  network  of  restrictions  in  which 
Cabot's  circumspection  had  caused  it  to  be  enclosed.  It  would 
be  childish  to  ask  whether  they  hated  Cabot  heartily,  and 
whether  the  small  portion  of  life  and  freedom  they  had  re- 
gained would  be  employed  in  revenging  themselves  on  him. 
But  there  is  also  another  fact  to  Cabot's  damage,  and  a  most 
serious  one  too.  Queen  Mary  in  1554  gave  her  hand  to  Philip 
of  Spain,  son  of  Charles  V.  True,  Philip's  power  in  no  wise 
extended  to  the  government  of  England,  but  he  could  not  fail 
to  exercise  a  certain  influence  at  court  and  on  the  Queen.  The 
year  before  Charles  V  had  again  requested  Cabot's  return.*  Is 
it  likely  that  Philip  had  forgotten  his  desertion  of  Spain  and 
his  constant  refusal  to  go  back  ?  And  not  having  forgotten, 
that  he  passed  it  over  entirely  as  though  it  had  not  occurred  ? 
It  seems  hard  to  believe  ;  but  granting  that  his  generosity  went 
so  far,  the  powerful  always  have  about  them  some  who 
want  to  interpret  their  desires  with  an  excess  of  zeal  : 
and  the  secret  and  avowed  agents  of  Spain  in  England  would 
be  too  great  an  exception  to  the  rule  if,  knowing  the  King's 
feelings  in  regard  to  Cabot,  they  had  not  yielded  to  the 
temptation  of  interpreting  and  anticipating  his  wishes. 
The  splendor  which  shone  around  Cabot's  head  on  Rich- 


»ii-l     !    ,1 


See  his  letter  to  Queen  Mary  of  September  9, 1568.  App.  zlviii. 


f-  ■^^;3 


304 


THE  LIFE  OF  SEBASTIAN  CABOT. 


ard  Chancellor's  return  dispelled  the  thick  mist  his  ononiiog 
hud  raised  around  him,  and  the  government  luul  first  lo 
recognize  his  merits  by  appointing  him  governor  for  life 
of  the  company  of  national  merchants,  and  then  to  ri(i);rni;,(. 
his  claims  by  confirming  the  pension  assigned  lum  l)y 
King  Edward.  But  the  interval  between  the  dates  of  the  two 
ordinances,  from  February  16  to  November  27,  1555,  shows  it 
the  government  was  ready  to  recognize  his  merits  it  was  not 
go  willing  to  acknowledge  his  claims.  And  I  think  it  would 
not  be  hazarding  a  rash  judgment  to  think  that  this 
second  ordinance  cost  Cabot  and  his  friends  many  stops  and 
much  labor. 

But  his  enemies  had  too  much  the  advantage  of  liim 
at  his  advanced  age  :  and  when  the  enthusiasm  excited 
in  his  favor  by  Chancellor's  return  had  been  suifcred  !(• 
die  out,  they  returned  to  the  attack,  and  found  means  of 
striking  him  a  sure  blow.  All  had  been  got  from  him  tliiit 
could  bo  ;  nothing  now  remained  but  to  wait  the  results 
of  the  new  enterprise  he  had  promoted.  And  for  this  his  work 
was  entirely  useless.  Other  hands,  other  forces  were  niM-cs- 
sary  to  push  it  forward.  The  worn-out  tool  is  flung  aside  ;  it 
is  too  rarely  the  case  that  the  memory  of  service  rend- 
ered causes  it  to  be  preserved  as  a  glorious  reminder  of 
what  it  had  been  ;  still  more  rarely  where  govornnionts 
are  concerned.  It  requires  strong  friendships,  long  rooted,  and 
Cabot  had  always  wanted  the  time  to  cultivate  such  :  it  needs 
the  testimony  of  services  rendered,  speaking  out  and  present 
in  the  benefits  derived  from  them  ;  and  for  Cabot  this 
testimony  could  only  speak  in  the  future. 

Moreover  I  cannot  regard  it  as  a  mere  coincidence  that 
Philip  arrived  in  London  May  20,  1557,  and  one  week  later. 
on  the  27th,  Cabot  resigned  his  pension.*  We  are  not  told 
why,  but  may  guess  the  reason  from  the  new  ordinance  signed 
two  days  after  his  resignation.  That  pension  was  not  only  of 
use  to  him,  but  it  was  likewise  an  honor  as  a  glorious 
testimony  to  his  merit       It  would  be  absurd  to  suppose  that 


*  Rymer,  vol.  xv,  p.  466.— Sec  App.  lix. 


DIVISION  OF  CABOT's  PENSION. 


305 


he  renounced  it  freely  of  his  own  accord.  If  he  was  not  ab- 
solutely forced  to  give  it  up,  it  is  fair  to  imagine  such  and 
sogrcut  pressure  to  induce  him  to  do  so  that  the  poor  old  man 
was  powerless  to  resist.  The  new  ordinance  of  May  29,  renews 
in  Cabot's  favor  the  same  assignment,  but  ho  shared  with 
William  Worthington.*  Probably  Worthington  was  given 
him  as  an  assistant  in  tho  discharge  of  the  duties  en- 
trusted to  him,  which  would  be  perfectly  proper  and  natural 
at  his  very  advanced  age.  But  in  dealing  with  a  man  like 
i'abot,  to  withdraw  for  this  assistance  a  part  of  his  pension  is 
something  more  than  shameful  thrift  in  a  government,  not  to 
meution  that  after  the  pension  had  been  assigned  to  him  for 
life,  to  cut  it  in  halves  was  pure  robbery. 

At  this  point  Biddle  remarks  that  Hakluyt  in  his  first 
work  published  in  1582,  after  citing  the  patent  granted  by 
Henry  VII  and  the  testimony  of  Ramusio,  mentions  Cabot's 
cliarts  and  discourses  drawn  or  written  in  his  own  hand,  and 
says  they  were  then  in  William  Worthington's  possession.! 
Tiie  ingenious  American  connects  this  remark  with  the  fact 
that  Worthington  was  assigned  as  assistant  to  Cabot,  and 
given  half  of  his  pension;  and  noting  how  greatly  it  was  for 
Spain's  interest  to  lay  hands  on  these  charts,  and  that  after 
this  mention  by  Hakluyt,  both  charts  and  manuscripts  were 
lost  to  sight  ;  raises  the  suspicion  that  Worthington  repaid 
King  Philip's  bounty  by  lending  himself  to  the  base  game  of 
causing  the  charts  to  disappear. :j:  And  in  another  place 
coming  back  to  the  same  suspicion,  he  says  :  "The  facts  dis- 
closed may,  perhaps,  assist  to  account  for  the  disappearance.  It 
is  obvious  that  such  documents  would  be  secured,  at  any  price, 
by  the  Spanish  Court,  at  the  period  of  Hakluyt's  publication, 
when  English  enterprise  was  scattering  dismay  amongst  tho 


*  "Eidem  Sebastiano  et  dilecto  servient!  "Wlllielmo  Worthington. "—Ibidem. 

t  The  whole  passage  will  be  given  when  we  come  to  treat  of  Cabot's  churls. 

I   \"lt  may  be  sufficient  here  to  say  of  William  Worthington,  that  he  is  joined 

with  Sebastian  Cabot  In  the  pension  eiven  by  Philip  and  Mary  on  the  29th 

I  May,  1557.     The  probable  fate  of  the  Maps  and  Discourses  will  be  considered 

I  on  reaching  the  painful  part  of  Cabot's  personal  history  which  belongs  to  this 

lissnciation." 

Biddk',  lib.  i,  cap.  4,  p.  41. 

20 


306 


THE  LIKE  OK  HEBA8T1AN  CABOT. 


♦   • 


*  f  > 


■  f 


'm 


VK 


iH'^f — 


Mi 


Spaiiisli  possessions  in  America.  The  work  of  TTnkluyt  (sixl 
you*  before  the  Armada)  sliowed  wliero  tliey  were  to  he  loiind. 
The  (l(*|)ositary  of  them  was  the  very  man  who  Imd  hccu  tlio 
object  of  Philip's  bounty  during  liis  brief  inlhicncc  in  Knjr. 
hind.  Were  they  not  bought  up  ?  There  can  be  now  only  a| 
conjecture  on  the  subject,  yet  it  scorns  to  gather  strengili  tliu 
more  it  is  rofiected  on."*  «    '  '  ' 

It  cannot  be  denied  that  Biddle's  inductive  reasonin^f  Imsj 
a  certain  force  ;  but  I  could  not  bo  induced  by  a  mcic  iiKhn- 
tion  to  throw  the  blame  of  such  infamous  action  on  oiu-  wIid) 
held  most  honorable  offices  in  his  own  country.  It  mjiy  wtll 
be  that  Cabot's  charts  were  taken  to  Spain,  for  Spain  lnul  aii 
interest  in  their  possession  ;  but  there  were  a  thousand  wins 
in  wliich  a  crafty  policy  could  get  hold  of  them  withoutj 
Worthington  personally  lending  himself  to  the  sluumtiil 
measure. 

And  here,  since  tho  course  of  our  narraiivo  has  brought  \is| 
where  we  must  speak  again  of  Cabot's  charts,  it  will  not  !m 
out  of  place  to  sum  up  such  information  as  has  reiiclu'd  uJ 
concerning  them,  the  more  so  as  one  of  tho  many  mistakos  iiJ 
relation  to  Cabot  is  that  he  left  no  account  of  his  voyages.  +1 
Of  his  charts,  besides  the  copy  still  preserved  in  tho  National 
Library  at  Paris,  there  are  records  of  a  copy  which  Natlianj 
Kocliaf  saw  at  Oxford  in  1566  ;  that  engraved  by  Clonuiitj 
Adams  and  seen  by  Hakluyt  in  the  Royal  Palace  at  Wcst-T 
minster  ;  X  another  which   Orteliu-i  had  before  him  when  liej 
composed  his  Atlas  ;  §  one  owned  by  the  Earl  of  Bedford  umlj 
mentioned  by  Willes  ;  ||  the  one  on  which,  according  to  EdoiiJ 
Cabot  had  made  a  design  of  his  exploration  of  the   Plata  ;^| 


*  'iiddle,  cap.  xxxv,  p.  231. 

t  "Great  surprise,"  says  Biddle,  "hns  been  expressed  that,  Cabot  shnul-j 
liave  left  no  account  of  hh  voyaires.  and  this  circumstance  has  ever  been  urire.j 
against  him  as  a  matter  of  reproach."  \¥ewwi>  i.  ch.  iv.  and  he  cites  \hJ 
words  of  Hugh  Murray  in  his  Historical  Account  of  North  America,vo\.\,  p.  66. 
"  Sebastian  with  all  his  knowlcdL'e  and  in  the  course  of  a  lone  life,  neve* 
committed  to  writing  any  narrative  of  the  voyage  to  North  America  " 

X  See  ch.  HI.  §  See  ch.  xii.  ( Ibidem.       . 

%  "  From  the  mouth  of  the  river  Cabot  sailed  up  the  same  into  the  lande  foj 


(A  mot's  CHAKTH. 


307 


has  brought  ml 
ts,  it  will  not  !w| 
has  rcachi'd  \wl 
[any  mistukcs  iiil 
■  his  voyagi's.  +[ 
ill  th('  Natioiuilj 
which  Niilliaul 
ed  by  Clomeutj 
Palace  at  \Vo?t' 
e  him  when  liej 
of  Hedford  and! 
ording  to  EdeiiJ 
of  the    Plata  " 


that,  Cabot  shnull 
has  ever  been  ureel 
.  nnd  he  cites  \m 
Ameriea.vc^l  ?■  '*'| 
,f  a  lonff  life,  nevc^ 
America." 
I  Ibidem. 
ne  Into  the  landefol 


and  three  which  Cabot  hiinscdf  montionsin  his  letter  to  John 
,lt.  Sfimana,  secretary  to  Charles  V*  Finally,  there  is  ont! 
«iiicli  Livy  Sanudo  had  under  his  eyes,  *'  a  chart  for  sailing,  " 
hi' says,  "  carefully  made  by  hand,  and  every  point  described 
|iy('al»ot  himself. "f  These  charts,  us  wo  have  seen,  were  also 
historical  proofs  of  Cabot's  voyages,  owing  to  the  descriptive 
!((;,. lids  they  bore  concerning  his  discoveries  and  voyag(^s. 
lliiving  si)oken  of  them  already  as  occasion  required  in  the 
iiiiinsc  of  our  narrative,  further  explanations  are  vumecessary 
hire.  Nor  is  it  my  design  to  nuike  a  special  inquiry  concern- 
iiijj  the  merit  the  chaVt  of  Cabot  wliich  is  still  lett  us,  may 
hiivc  in  Carti)grai»liy.  Any  one  desiring  this  nuiy  consult  with 
pnitit  the  special  works  which  treat  of  Cartography  in  the 
.W  Century.:}: 

Tlu!  last  traces  of  charts  drawn  by  ( 'abot's  hand  disappeared 
StpttMuber  20,  1575.  On  that  day,  John  Bai)tist  Gesio  di- 
rected a  memorial  to  the  King  of  Spain,  Philip  11,  to  recover 
nil  ancient  colored  chart  on  parchment,  made  by  Sebastian 
rahiit,  which  he  said  was  the  property  of  the  state,  but  being 
found  airiong  the  books  of  John  do  (^vando,  deceased,  torm- 
dy  President  of  the  Council  of  the  Indies,  was  now  put  up 
•or  sale  at  auction  with  Ovando's  other  books.J^ 

But  of  all    the  rich    works  which  1  believe  were  due  to 
I  his  celebrated    ability    in    cartography   ||     there    remains 

I  llw  space  of  three  htindreth  and  flftie  leagues,  as  be  wrytetli  in  bis  own  Carde." 

YAcn,  Vemdes,  fol.  316. 

*Set!  A  pp.  xlii. 

t  Oeoijiaphia  distlncta  in  xii  libri,  Vene/ia,  1588.  p.  2. 

t  Fliirrisse  discusses  it  at  crcnt  length  in  the  work  we  have  so  often  cited. 
U'tii  et  Sfibttstien  Oahot,  p.  iril.  D'Avezac  n\m  treats  it  at  some  lengtli  in  lliu 
Un/e  Cntiqve  d'Uistoireet  de  Litterature.  Premier  Semestre,  1870,  p.  208  and 

Sfl]. 

5ITarrisse,  p.  151.— "Tnvolopn  sn  nnder  liastn  sumuerteel  visitiidor  y  presi- 

Identedi;!  conse.iode  InfUtis  Juan  d.-  Ovando.  Asi  consta  por  memorial  (lelcos- 
mfcrafo  ,Tnan  Bantista  Gesio  nl  Rhv  f»(-lia  de  Madrid  y  20  de  Setiembre  du 
liio,  rn  donde  dice,  que  en  la  idnioneda  de  log  libros  de  Ovanilo  estaba  un 
mapaantigno  de  pergainino  iluminado  hecho  nor  Sebastian    Gaboto,  y  pide  se 

Ifcobre,  porqiie  le  aseirnran  pertenecc  a  S.  M."  (BiMlotcea  del  EHCoHnt).  M. 

jTnienesde  la  Espada,  Relaciones  geogrdphieas  de  Indias,  Madrid,  1881,  p.  xxx, 

I  lota. 

I dcosi  valente  et  pratico  dell-  cose  pcrtineati  alia  navigatlone  et  alia 


i4' 


;  4 


•f       y .     .^^;^. 


■^08 


THE  LIFE  OF  SEBASTIAN  CABOT. 


to  US  only  the  copy  preserved  in  the  National  Library  at  Paris, 
This  is  a  large,  colored  map  of  the  world,  projected  on 
a  single  elhpse  1.48  in  width  and  1.11  in  height.*  It  was  found 
in  Germany  and  bought  for  the  National  Library  in  Paris  in 
1844.  It  bears  no  date  nor  place  of  printing,  but  a  Spanish  j 
inscription  says  it  was  extended  in  1544  by  Sebastian  Cabot, 
Captain  and  Pilot-Major  of  Charles  V.f 

That  besides  the  traces  and  notes  of  his  voyages  leftonhisj 
charts,  he  had  also  written  a  descriptive  account  of  themj 
we  have  certain  knowledge  from  these  words  of  Hakluyt's 
"This  much  concerning  Sebastian  Cabot's  disco veric  may  suf-l 
fice  for  a  present  taste,  but  shortly  God  willing,  sliall  out 
in  print  All  his  own  mappcs  and  Discourses  drawiic  and  ^crttUnl 
by  himselfe,  which  are  in  the  custodie  of  the  worshipful  Mas-j 
ter  William  Worthington,  one  of  her  Majesty's  Pensioners,] 
who  (bicause  so  worthie  monuments  should  not  be  buried  iuj 
perpetual  oblivion)  is  very  willing  to  suffer  them  to  be  over-| 
scene  and  publisched  in  as  good  order  as  may  be  to  the  encour-i 
agement  and  benefite  of  our  countrymen. "| 

After  the  halving  of  his   pension,  we  lose  sight  entirely! 
of  Sebastian  Cabot,  except  a  slight  glance  at  him  on  liis  death-j 
bed,  assisted  in  his  last  moments  ])y  the  true  and  kind  Richarfi 
Eden.  In  the  letter   of  dedication  which  Eden  prefixed  tol 
his  translation  of  a   book   by  John  Taisnerus,§  ho  relates} 


CdsiiiDgraiia,  ch'  in  Spagna  al  presente  non  vfi  un  suo  pari.  .  .  .il  qna)e  sapevaj 
far  carte  marine  di  sua  maao  et  inteadeva  1'  arte  del  navigare  piCi  ci'  alcua| 
altro." 

Hamusio,  vol.  vli,  p.  414. 

—"....  Sebastlin  Caboto  ....  era  gran  Cosmografo  .  .  . ." 

Herrora,  Dec.  iii,  lib.  x,  cap.  i. 

*  [About  4  ft.  10  in.  by  3  ft.  8  in.— Tr.] 

t  "  Sebastian  Caboto  capitan  y  piloto  mayor  de  la  Sacra  Ccsarea  Catnlica 

MajestaddellmperiulorDon  Carlos  qiiinto  deste  nombrey  Rey  Niicstro  Sciior,| 

hizo  esta  flguia  exteiisa  en  piano,  anno  del  nascimiento  de  Nueslro  Salvadoij 

Jesu  Christo  de  MDXLIIIIanno?." 

t  Hakluyt,  in  the  Dedication  to  Sir  Philip  Sydney  of  bis  work.  First  etiilionJ 
1593.  i-    J       J  1 

S  The  title  of  the  book  is  :— "  A  very  necessarie  and  profitatjle  bool^ 
concerning  Navigation  compiled  in  Latin  by  Joannes  Taisnerus,  etc.  Trans- 
jMted  into  English  by  HicbardEden.  Imprinted  at  Loudon  by  Richard  Jugge." 


CABOT  S  DISPOSITION. 


309 


work.  First  edilionJ 


that  Cabot  on  his  death-bed  "with  a  thin  voice  spoke  of 
;i  divine  revelation  made  to  him  of  a  new  and  infalUble 
method  of  finding  longitude,  but  he  could  not  disclose 
it  to  any  mortal."  It  is  plain  that  Cabot's  mind  was  wander- 
ing •  but  the  direction  it  took  in  his  delirium,  proves  that  his 
thoughts  were  constantly  and  intently  searching  to  solve 
a  problem  which  even  to-day  vexes  the  mind  of  scientists.  As 
to  the  idea  itself  which  his  mind  cherished  in  his  dream,  we 
have  mentioned  it  in  its  place  further  buck  in  this  present 

Idiiiptor.     '   . 

Sebastian  Cabot,  so  far  as  we  can  judge  from  the  portrait 
which  is  left  of  him,  must  have  been  tall,  majestic,  lean,  with 

[  strongly -marked  features,  and  animated  ?xpression.  The 
ricli  dress  in  which  Cabot  is  painted  and  the  great  chain 
around  his  neck  and  hanging  down  to  his  breast,  are  probably 
the  emblems  of  his  office  as  Governor  of  the  Company  ofMer- 

1  chant  Adventurers.  The  Portrait  was  thought  to  be  Holbein'*, 
t  this  opinion  has  since  been  controverted.  I  know  not, 

I  and  it  is  not  of  any  great  interest  for  my  work,  which  of  the 
t«o  sides  is  more  likely  right.    In  Purchas's  time  it  was  kept 

[in  the  King's  Privy  Gallery  at  Whitehall,  but  afterwards 
passed  into  private  hands,  perhaps  at  the  time  of  the  scatter- 
ing of  objects  of  art  in  the  royal  palaces  which  took  place 

[after  the  death  of  Charles  I.*  About  the  commencement 
of  this  century  it  came  into  the  possession  of  the  Harford 
Family  of  Bristol,  from  whom  it  was  purchased  in  1842 
liy  Richard  Biddle,  author  of  the  Memoirs  of  Sebastian  Cabot, 
who  hung  it  in   his  house  at  Pittsburgh,  Pa.,   where  he 

[resided,  and  where  it  was  destroyed  by  a  fire  in  1845.f 

Oi  ..he  disposition  and  habits  of  Sebastian  Cabot  we  can  col- 
lect no  reminiscences,  nor  any  specir.l  fact :  but  Ranmsio's 

[Anonymous  relates  with  expansive  praise  his  courtesy  in 
receiving  him,  and  answering  his  questions  and  comply- 
ing with  his   wishes  ::}:   and   his   modesty  and    fai'-ness  are 

hliown  in  the  enthusiastic  words  in  which,  so  famous  by  his 


•-Purcha3,  iv,  p.  1813.— Biddle.  Memoir  etc.  p.  323. 
\li' A.vezixc,  Rsvue  Critique,  p.  208, 


t  See  App.  xiz. 


If)'*';! 


310 


THE  LIIE  OF  SEBASTIAN  CABOT. 


own  navigations  and  discoveries,  he  speaks  of  Christophor  Co- 
lumbus, and  acknowledges  that  he  obtained  from  him  the  tii>i 
spark  which  kindled  his  ardor  for  discovery.*  Rut  our 
best  proof  of  what  he  was,  not  only  of  his  great  prudence  of 
mind,  but  also  of  his  goodness  of  heart,  is  in  the  instructidiis 
given  to  Sir  Hugh  Willoughby  ;  of  which  it  is  needless  for  us 
to  speak  further  after  what  we  have  not  long  since  said 
of  them.  That  he  was  a  profoundly  religious  man  is  jirovcd 
not  only  by  the  minute  instructions  he  gives  Willouj^hliv 
that  the  men  of  his  expedition  should  be  regular  and 
punctual  in  fulfilling  their  duties  towards  God,  luit  evdi 
more  by  the  delirium  of  his  last  illness,  when  he  recognized 
as  a  divine  revelation  his  discovery  of  the  declination  of  the 
magnetic  needle.  The  mind  at  that  time  freed  from  all 
motive  of  policy  or  convenience,  left  wholly  to  itself,  uncon- 
scious of  its  thoughts,  invariably  goes  over  and  repeats  apin 
the  thought  which  during  life  it  had  oft  r  f  lained  with 
a  firm  conviction. 

We  know  nothing  of  when  or  where  he  died,  nor  even  the 
spot  where  he  was  buried.  England,  wholly  occuj)ied  in 
coursing  the  seas  over  which  he  had  directed  her,  had  no 
time  to  remember  or  mark  the  sepulchre  of  the  man  to  whoso 
powerful  initiative  she  owes  the  wealth  and  power  which  have 
placed  her  among  the  foremost  nations  of  the  world.  What 
is  still  worse,  her  historical  literature,  so  rich  in  quantity  and 
quality,  has  not  a  book  in  which  his  life  and  work  are  inves- 
tigated and  studied  profoundly  and  at  as  great  length  as 
possible,  although  her  writers  have  at  times  proc^'.iined 
bis  greatness  and  protested  the  gratitude  due  to  him  '  iii'' 
English  nation.  He  was  but  a  few  years  dead  whe^.  hi 
celebrating  the  navigations  of  Sir  Humphrey  Gilbert  to  l.  '■'  - 
America,  sang  of  that  region  : 

"  Haric  t.it»i  janidudum  priini  invenere  Brilanni 
Turn  cum  nmgnanimiis  nostra  in  reginne  Cahotuft 
Proximus  a  magno  ostendil  sua  vela  Coliimbo."f 


*  Ibidem. 

t  Stephen   Parmenius,  called  Bndaens,  from  the  city  of  Buda  '  i  Hungary, 
where  he  was  horn.— Hakluyt,  iii,  176. 


Gilbert  to  i. 


Buda  •  >  Hungary, 


England's  neglect  of  cabot. 


311 


In  the  first  half  of  the  last  century  Campbell  wrote  :  — 
"If  this  worthy  man  had  performed  nothing  more,  his  name 
ouglit  surely  to  have  been  transmitted  to  future  times  with 
lionour,  since  it  clearly  appears,  that  Newfoundland*  had  been 
;i  source  of  riches  and  naval  power  to  this  nation,  from 
the  time  it  was  discovered,  as  well  as  the  first  of  our  planta- 
tions ;  so  that  with  strict  justice,  it  may  be  said  of  Sebastian 
Cubot,  that  he  was  the  Author  of  our  Maritime  Slrevr/th 
and  opened  the  way  to  those  improvements  which  have 
rendered  us  so  great,  so  eminent,  so  flmirishing  a  people  "\  And 
Barrow  wrote  in  the  beginning  of  the  present  century  :  "  aSV- 
\mtUm  Cabot ....  By  his  knowledge  and  experience,  his  zeal 
and  penetration,  he  not  only  was  the  means  of  extending  the 
Foreign  Commerce  of  England,  but  of  keeping  alive  that 
spirit  of  enterprise,  which  even  in  his  life-time,  was  crowned 
with  success,  and  which  ultimately  led  to  the  most  happy  re- 
sults for  the  nation."  | 

After  these  declarations  repeated  in  sense,  if  not  in  words,  by 
oil  the  English  writers  who  have  had  occasion  to  mention 
liim,  it  must  seem  almost  incredible  that  so  wealthy  a  nation 
never  thought  of  setting  up  a  memorial  which  would  serve  to 
commemorate,  not  the  name  of  Cabot,  for  that  needs  it 
not,  but  her  own  recognition  of,  and  gratitude  for,  his 
work.  "  He, "  says  Biddle,  "  gave  a  Continent  to  England  : 
yet  no  one  can  point  to  the  few  feet  of  earth  she  has  allowed 
liiin  in  return.  "  § 


•Newfoundland,  i,  e,  the  whole  of  the  new  land  discovered  by  the  English 
in  the  northern  part  of  America. — See  cli.  iv. 

\John  Campbell's  Lives  of  the  Admirals,  art.  Sebustian  Cabot. 

I  John  Barrow's  Chronological  History  of  Voyages  into  the  Arctic  Begiom,  Lon- 
don, 1818. 

§  Memoir,  p.  228. 


APPENDIX. 


Different  ways  in  which  the  name  Caboto  is  found  m'itten. 


I  believe  it  would  be  hard  to  find  another  surname  so  al' 
tered  and  distorted  in  writing  as  that  of  Cabot.  I  give  a 
sample  here  to  satisfy  the  reader's  curiosity. 

A.  Gaboto — "  Diose  a  Gaboto  titulo  de  Capitan  General." 
Ilerrera,  Dec.  iv,  lib.  viii,  cap.  12. 

B.  Gavoto  —  "  Notifiqueys  un  mandamiento  da  parte  de 
seilor  Sebastian  Gavoto."  Diego  Garcia,  in  his  order  to  Cap- 
tain Francis  de  Rojas. 

C.  Cabota — "Si  ave\a  messo  in  fantasia  Sebastiano  Cabota 
.  .  .  poter  essere  che  qualche  passo  fosse  nel  mar  settentrio- 
nale."  In  the  Raccolta  of  G.  B.  Ramusio,  2nd  Ed.  1866.  vol. 
ii,  p  212. 

D.  Oabot — "Sebastien  Cabot  nomma  pour  commander.  .  .  . 
I  dans  le  fort  du  S.  Esprit  Nuno  de  Lara,"  Charlevoix,  Hid. 
I  (In  Paraguay,  liv.  i. 

E.  Gabot — "II  assembla  quatre  mille  hommes dans 

!  un  marais,  qui  etait  fort  pres  de  la  Tour  de  Gabot.      Id.  16. 

P.  Gabato — "This  yeare  one  Sebastian  Gabato  ....  caused 
Itlio  King  to  man  ...  a  shippe."  Robert  Fabian  according 
[toStow's  reading.  1631.  p.  480. 

G.  Cabotto — "Di  Giovanni  e  Sebastiano  Cabotto."  This  is 
[the  title  of  a  chapter  in  Placido  Zurla's  work  Sui  Viaggiatori 
Wencziani. 


,r 


314 


APPENDIX  NO.  1. 


fifi 


''it*  "^ 


-    J 


r\ 


I 


H.  Gavotta — "Henry  VII  ....  extended  his  protection  to 
the  Venetian  John  Gavotta  or  Cabot."  Dr.  ]!jardner's  Cab- 
inet Cyclopaedia,  vol.  ii,  p.  136. 

I.  Kahot — "John  Cabot  or  Gabot  or  Kabol;  would  be  at- 
tended .  . ."  M.  Clifton  in  a  note  cited  by  Biddle.  Memoir, 
p.  84. 

K.  Shahot — "Mr.  Feekham  had  wan-ant  for  100  L.  for  the 
transporting  of  one  Shabot  a  Pilot  of  Hispairi,"  extract  from 
the  minutes  of  the  Privy  Council  of  Edward  VI,  King  of  Eng- 
land. ■  '  ' 

L.  Bahate — "Elle  (New  France)  fut  ddcouverte  premiere- 
ment  par  Sebastien  Babate  Anglois."  A.  Thevet,  Singula- 
ritoz  do  la  France  Antarctique.  Paris,  1558,  fo.  148. 

M.  Cahotte  —  **The  twentieth  of  May,  by  the  encouragement 
of  one  Sebastian  Cabotte  three  great  ships  ...were  sette  forthe." 
Stow,  Chronidea,  London,  1580,  p.  1057. 

N.  Gaboto,  "The  great  .  .  .  encourager  of  which  voiagc  was 
Sebastian  Caboto,"  Holinshed,  Tlie  Chronicle  ofEnglande,  Smf- 
lande  and  Irelande,  1557.  ii.  p.  714. 

O.  Cabote — "desirerions  communiquer  aucunes  affaires.  . , . 
avec  le  Capitaine  Cabote"  .  .  .  Letter  of  Charles  V  to  Man- 
Tudor,  Queen  of  England.  Foreign  Calendars,  1553  —  58,  i.  p. 
10. 

P.  Gabote — "One  Sebastian  Gabote  generall  p[ilot]  of  the  em- 
perours  Indias  is  presently  in  England."  Dispatch  of  the  Eng- 
lish Ministers,  25  Nov.  1549  (  Colton  M.  Galba,  B.  xii.  fo. 
124). 

Q.  O7fto«— "paide  .  .  .  in .  .  .  recompense  of  .  .  .  labour  con- 
ductying  of  Sebastian  Cabott.  43  L.  4  S."  Note  of  expenses 
reported  in  1.  S.  Brewer's  Calendar  Domestic  and  Foreign,  iv, 
part  i,  p.  154. 

Sebastian  Cabot  in  his  letter  to  John  of  Samano  secretary 
to  Charles  V,  signs  himself  Caboto  with  one  t :  this  is  tiic 
form  most  frequently  met  with  in  the  letters  that  passed  be- 
tween the  Council  of  Ten  and  their  ambassadors  in  Spain  and 
England  in  reference  to  the  same  Sebastian  ;  and  it  is  ahnost 
the  only  one  found  in  the  acts  of  the  suit  prosecuted  against 
him  in  Spain.  I  have  therefore  preferred  it,  and  the  more  so 


APPENDIX  NO.  3. 


315 


because  the  other,  Cabotto  with  double  t,  is  easily  explained  as 
11  slip  of  the  tongue  or  pen  [The  usual  English  form  Cabot  is 
substituted  for  t'lo  author's  Caboto  in  this  translation — Tr.]. 


II. 


Privilegium  CiviKtatis  de  intus  et  extra  per  Jiabitationem  Annontm 
XVy  Aluisii  Fontana,  olim  de  pergamo. 


Nicolaus  Tronus  Dux  Venetiarum  etc.  Universis  et  sin- 
{juli.s  tani  aniicis  quam  fidelibus,  et  tam  praesentibus  quani 
futuris,  presens  privilegium  inspecturis,  salutem  et  sincere 
(lilectionis  affectum. 

Notum  vobis  fieri  volumus  per  praesentem  paginam,  quod 
cum  inter  cetera,  que  in  mente  nostra  revolviinus,  altenda- 
mus  precipue  nostrorum  subditorum  et  fidelium  devotorum 
tractare  propensius  comoda  et  utilia  salubritcr  procurare. 
Cum  hoc  excellentie  nostre  decus  aspiciat  et  fidelium  dcvotio 
iitilius  pertractata  in  nostrae  fidelitatis  et  devotionis  constan- 
tia  ferventius  solidetur,  Duximus  volentes  beneficia  recom- 
pensare  pro  mentis  statuendum. 

Quod  quicumque  annis  XV  vel  inde  supra  Venetiis  con- 
tinue habitasset,  factiones  et  onera  nostri  dominii  ipso  tempore 
subeundo  a  modo  civis  et  venetus  noster  esset :  et  citadinatu3 
Venetiarum  privilegio  et  alijs  beneficiis,  libertatibus  et  im- 
munitatibus,  quibus  alii  Veneti  et  cives  nostri  utuntur  et 
}:;iuident,  perpetuo  et  ubilibet  congaudetur.  Unde  cum  provi- 
(lus  vir,  Aluisius  Fontana,  olim  de  Pergamo,  nunc  habitator 
Venetiarum  in  contrata  Sancti  luliani,  sicut  legitimis  et 
iiianifestis  probationibus  per  provisores  nostri  Comunis  dili- 
jjenter  examinatis,  nobis  innotuit  annis  XV  Venetiis  contin- 
luuu  habitationem  habuerit,  erga  nos  et  ducatum  nostrum, 
fideliter  et  laudabiliter  sub  devotionis  integritate  se  gerens  ;  et; 
subiens  continue  factiones  et  onera  nostri  dominii,  digna 
remuneratione  prosequentes,  eundem  ipsum  Aluisium  Fon- 
tana consiliorum  et  ordinaraentorum  nostrorum,  necessaria 


■   i 

■'i 

1 


I 


316 


APPENDIX  NO.  2. 


h     t  ' 


!i''I 


l!i 


'.U 


il 


te  '  .^. 


solemnitate  scrvata,  in  venetum  et  civem  nostrum  de  intus  ct 
extra,  recepimus  atque  recipimas,  et  venetum  et  civem  nos- 
trum, de  intus  et  extra,  fecimus  et  facimus,  et  pro  Veneto  ot 
cive  nostro  in  Venetiis  et  extra,  habere  et  tractare,  ac  luihcri 
volumus,  et  ubique  tractari.  Ita  quod  singulis  libertatibus, 
boneficiis  et  iramunitatibus,  quibus  alii  veneti  et  cives  nostri 
de  intus  et  extra  utuntur  et  gaudent,  idem  Aluisius  in 
Venetiis  ct  extra,  libere  gaudeat  de  cetero  et  utatur.  Intolli- 
gendo,  quod  per  mare,  et  in  fontico  theotonicorum,  seu  cum 
theotonicij,  mercari  ;  seu  mercari  facere  non  possit  nisi  de 
tanto  quanto  fecerit  imprestita  nostro  dominio  in  anno.  In 
cujus  rei  fidem  et  evidentiam  pleniorem,  presens  privilegiuni 
fieri  jussimus  et  bulla  nostra  plumbea  pendente  muniri. 

Datum  in  nostro  ducali  Palatio,  Anno  Domini  incariia- 
tionis  millesimo  quadringentesimo  septuagesimo  sccundo, 
mensis  Augusti  die  undccimo  indictione  Quinta. 

Simile  privilegiuni  factum  fuit  provido  viro  lohanni 
lacobi  qui  fuit  de  pensauro  nunc  habitatori  Venetiarum,  tem- 
pore serenissi  mi  principis  domini  Nicolai  Marcelli  Incliti  ducis 
Venetiarum  etc.  sub  bulla  plumbea  MCCCCLXXIII  mensis 
Octubris  die  XXIII  Indictione  VII. 

Simile  privilegiuni  factum  fuit  provido  viro  Martino  Figini 
qui  fuit  de  Mediolano  habitatori  Venetiarum  tempore  sereiiis- 
simi  Principis  domini  Nicolai  Marcello  MCCCCLXXIII  die 
quarto  lulii  Indictione  VII. 

Similo  privilegium  factum  fuit  provido  viro  Autonio  Guli- 
elmi  Calderaio  de  Columbia  qui  fuit  de  Balabio  districtus 
Mediolani  habitatori  Venetiarum  tempore  serenissimi  Prin- 
cipis domini  Petri  Mocenigo  sub  bulla  plumbea  MCCCCLXXV 
mensis  mail  die  quiiito  Indictione  Octava. 

Simile  privilegium  factum  fuit  provido  viro  loanni  Bartho- 
lomci  de  Brixia  habitatori  Venetiarum  tempore  serenissimi 
Principis  Domini  Nicolai  MarcelloMCCCCLXXIIII  die  XVII 
Mail  Indictione  VII. 

Simile  privilegium  factum  fuit  probo  et  prudenti  viro 
loanni  Pietro  de  Turco  qui  fuit  de  Navaria  habitatori  Vene- 
tiarum tempore  serenissimi  Principis  Domini  loannis  Mo- 
cenigo die  XXII  '^^  Augusti  1480. 


APPENniX  NO.  3 


317 


Simile  privilcgium  factum  fuit  Bartholomeo  Antonii 
Casarolo  die  XVIII  Augusti  1481. 

Simile  privilcgium  factum  fuit  Bernardo  Bartholomei  de 
I'crgamo  die  28  Septcmbris  1484. 

Simile  privilcgium  factum  fuit  Zacharie  de  panti  de  lodi  die 
■2S  Septcmbris  1484. 

Simile  privilcgium  factum  fuitBenedicto  Lancelloti  fontana 
(lie  28  Septcmbris  1484. 

Simile  privilcgium  factum  fuit  loanni  Sebastiano  et  Stefano 
fnitribus  die  28  Septcmbris  1484. 

Simile  privilcgium  factum  fuit  Raphaeli  quondam  Antoni 
do  ardiconi))us  die  12  fobruari  1484. 

Simile  privilcgium  factum  fuit  M.  Stefano  Nicolai  Aurifici 
bulla  aurea  die  20  fcbruarii  1484. 

Simile  privilcgium  factum  fuit  loanni  Caboto  sub  duce 
suprascripto  1470.* 

Simile  privilcgium  factum  fuit  Dominico  loanni  de  la 
Cisio  sub  die  XVIII  januari  1498. 

Simile  privilegium  factum  fuit  lacobo  Deblandratis  sub  die 
XXVII  julii  1500. 

Simile  privilegium  factum  fuit  lo  :  lacobo  grimasco  papi- 
cnsi  die  17  Augusti  1501.  State  Archives,  Venezia,  Libro 
Privilegi,  t.  ii,  p.  53. 

•[Observing  that  some  of  these  records  nre  not  iu  their  chront  ogical  order, 
I  wrote  the  Author  to  ascertain  if  there  was  not  some  mistake.  Signor  Tar- 
(iucci  wrote  to  the  superintendent  of  the  Frari  Archives  at  Venice,  8ig.  F.  Stc- 
fani,  requesting  him  to  compare  the  copy  with  tlie  original. 

He  received  tlie  following  reply,  dated  January  26,  1893. 

"The  chronological  confusion  is  precisely,  as  you  have  remarked,  due  to  the 
bail  practice,  if  we  choose  lo  call  it  so,  of  the  clerks  of  the  ducal  chancery,  of 
leaving  blank  spaces  for  registrations  which  afterwards  were  not  entered,  per- 
haps from  oversight,  and  which  they  subsequently  made  use  of  to  insert  much 
later  acts. 

"  Such  chronological  confusion  is  also  found  in  other  registers  of  our  arch- 
ives, but  it  does  not  detract  from  the  authenticity  of  the  acts  therein  inserted. 

"F.  Stefan!." 
■""I^-^!'    ,'  Translator.] 


ii 


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318 


APPENDIX  NO.  5^. 


III. 


Inscription  on  Sebastian  Cabot's  Planisphere  (1544)  on  the  first 

discovery  in  1494. 


jr  1.. 


I   5,t 


H'J  , 


! , ;  i 


h 
I 


liTTij' 


i    * 


■i  * 


1.  AccouDiNG  to  tho  copy  preserved  in  the  Nutional  Li- 
brary at  Paris. 

A.  Spanish. — N.  8.  Esa  tierra  fuo  descubierta  por  loan  Cii- 
boto  Voiieciano,  y  Sebastian  C'aboto  hu  bijo,  anno  del  luisci- 
nHentodenuestroSalvadorJe.su II  Cln-istode  M.  CCCC.  XCIIII, 
a  veintey  quatro  do  lunio,  por  la  niannana,  ala  qual  pusicion 
nobro  prima  tierra  vista,  y  a  una  isla  ^rade  (|uc| 
esta  par  de  la  dha  tierra,*  le  pusieron  nonibre  sant  loan,  ])()r 
aver  sido  descubierta  el  ndsnio  dia  la  ji^ente  della  andan 
vestidos  depieles  de  aniiuales,  usan  en  sus  ^uerras  aroo^;, 
y  flcchas,  lancas,  y  dardos,  y  unas  porras  do  })al(),  y 
liondas.  Es  tierra  muy  storil,  ay  tn  ella  niucbos  orsos  phuicos, 
y  ciervos  jnuy  grades  conio  cavallos  y  otras  niuehas  ani- 
iuales y  senieiantemente  ay  pcscado  intinito,  sollos,  salmocs, 
leni^uados,  niuy  grandes  do  vara  enlargo  y  otros  inuchas 
diversidades  de  poscados,  y  la  mayor  multitud  deilos  scdi/.cii 
baecalaos,  y  asi  mismo  ay  enla  dba  tierra  Ilalcones  jnictos 
cuomo  euervos  Acjuillas,  Ferdices,  Pardillas,  y  otras  nuichas 
aves  de  diversas  maneras.|| 

U.  Latin. —  Terrain  banc  oli in  nobis  clausam,  aperuit  loan- 
nes  ('abotus  Venetus,  necno  Sebastianus  Cabotus  eius  tiiiiis 
anno  ah  orbe  redem  — .]|  pto  141)4  die  vero  24  Julij  (sic), 
bora  r>  sul)  dilueulo,  qua  terra  prima  visam  appellarunt,  et 
Insula  (luandi  magna  ei  opposita,  Insula  divi  lo  |  anni.: 
nominarunt,([uippo  quae  solemni  die  festo  divi  loannis  apirla 
Mt.  liuius  terrae  iucoluo  pellibus  auiuiulium  mduuutur,  urcu 

*  He  seems  to  mean  that  the  island  was  found  on  a  line  parallel  to  the  main 
land  :  the  Latin  translation  says,  instead,  that  it  was  opposite.  But  the  pdsi- 
tion  of  the  island  on  the  map  agrees  better  with  the  original  Spanisli  expres- 
sion. 


A»'1'KNDIX  NO    & 


319 


'Jutioiuil  Li- 


in  bcllo,  sa  ="||  gittis,  hastis  spiculis  clavis  lignois,  ot  fundis 
utuntur,  sterilis  incultaq  tellus  fuit,  loonibus,  ursisalbis,  proco- 
risciue  cervis,  piscibus  inriume — ris  lupis  scilicet,  salinoiiibus, 
et  ingentibus  soleis,  uuius  ulnao  longituJine,  alfisquo  divor.sis 
piscium  generibus  abundat,  horum  autoin  maxima  copia  ||  est, 
(luosvulgus  Bacallios appellat, ad  haec  insunt  accipitros  nigii 
sorvorum  similes,  aquilae,  perdicesque  fusco  colore  aliaeque  di- 
versae  volucres. 

The  Latin  version  given  by  Chytreus  is  identical  with  that 
of  the  copy  at  Paris,  except  that  the  latter  has  Julii  by  mis- 
take, where  Chytreus  has  correctly  Junii.  ' 

II.  According  to  the  transcription  of  Ilakluyt  from  the 
copy  in  the  King's  privy  Gallery  at  Westminster,  cut  by 
Clement  Adams. 

Anno  Domini  1494  (so  in  the  first  edition  ;  tiie  others 
have  1497)  Joannes  Cabotus  Venetus,  et  illius  tilius  cam  ter- 
riini  fecorunt  perviam,  quam  nullus  prius  adiro  ausus  fuerit, 
ilii!  24  Junii,  circiter  horam  quintam  bene  mane. 

Hanc  autem  appellavit  Terrani  primum  visam,  credo  quod 
ox  inari  in  earn  partem  primum  oculos  injecerat. 

Nainque  ex  adverso  sita  est  insula,  cam  appellavit  insulam 
Divi  Joannis,  hac  opinor  ratione,  quod  aperta  fuit  eo  die  qui 
est  sacer  Divo  Joanni  Baptistae  :  *  Cuius  incolac  pellesani- 
nialium  exuviasque  ferarum  pro  indumentis  habent,  eas([ue 
tauti  faciunt,  quanti  nos  vestes  pretiosissi mas.  Cum  helium 
gerunt,  utuntur  arcu,  sagittis,  hastis,  spiculis,  clavis  ligneis  et 
fuudis.  Tellus  sterilis  est,  nequo  ullos  fructus  affert,  ex  quo  tit, 
ut  ursis  albo  colore,  et  cervis  inusitatae  apud  nos  magnitudinis 
referta  sit  ;  piscibus  abundat  iisque  sane  magnis,  quales  sum 
lupi  marini  et  quos  salmones  vulgus  appellat  ;  soleae  autem 
reperiuntur  tam  longae  ut  ulnae  mensuram  excedaut.  Impri- 
mis antem  magna  est  copia  eorum  piscium  quos  vulgari  ser- 
monovocant  Bacallaos.  Gignunturin  ea  insula  acc-ii)iires  ita 
nigri,  ut  corvorum  similitudinem  mirum  in  nioduiu  expri- 
inant,  perdices  antem  et  acjuilae  sunt  nigri  coloris.  Ilak- 
luyt, vol.  iii,  p.  27.  „_^.  .-^-  . 


*  For  what  follows  see  what  was  said  1u  chapter  iv,  p.  50. 


M 


1(1- 


320 


AiM'HNDIX  NO.  5. 


<      (•• 


IV. 

Petition  of  John  Cabot  to  Henry  VII  King  of  England  for  privilem 
of  Navigation  for  himnelf  and  his  three  sons. 

PiiMic  Hcrord  Office  (  London  ),  Chancery  Bill  signed,  suh 
anno  11  Ilonr.  VII.  No.  51. 

Memorandum  quod  quinto  die  Marcii  anno  regni  rcfri.s 
Ilcnric'i  Soi)timi  undocimo  ista  billa  deliberatn  full  do- 
mino Cancollario  Anglioapud  Westmonastcriumexequonda. 

To  tlie  Kyng  our  sovereigne  lord. 

IMcsase  it  your  highness  of  your  mosto  noble  and  hahoiind- 
ant  grace  to  graunt  unto  John  Cabotto  citizen  of  Vcnos, 
Lewes,  Sebastyan  and  Hancto  his  sonnoys  your  gracious  lettrcs 
palcMites  under  your  grcte  scale  in  due  forme  to  be  mado 
according  to  the  tenour  hereafter  cnsuyng.  And  they  sludl 
during  their  lyvos  pray  to  God  for  tiie  prosperous  continu- 
ance of  your  moste  noble  and  royal  ^  astato  long  to  cnduer. 

Rex  omnibus  ad  quos  Ac.  salute  otum  sit  ct  manifcstum 
(fee.  as  in  the  following. 


V. 


Letters    Patent  of  King    Henry    VII  to   John    Cabot  and  his 
three  sons  granting  the  privilege  prayed  for,  March  5,  149G. 

(  Public  Record  Office,  London.  French.  Roll,  sub  anno  llnio 
Henr.  VII.  membran.  23.  )  Ilenricus  dei  gratia  rex  Ang- 
lic et  Francie  et  dominus  Hibernie  omnibus  ad  quos  presontes 
litero  nostre  pervenerint,  salutem.    ■ 

Notum  sit  et  manifestum  quod  dedimus  et  concessimus,  ac 
per  presontes  damns  et  concedimus  pro  nobis  et  heredihus 
nostris  dilectis  nobis  lohanni  Caboto  civi  Veneciarura,  ac  Lo- 
dovico,  Sebastiano  et  Santio  filiis  dicti  lohannis,  et  eoruin  ac 


.\rPK\PTX  NO.  s. 


321 


Ifiijuslibet  eorulu  herodibus  et  deputatis  plenara  ac  liberam 

iiuctori  tutom,  falcultatom  ot  potestatom  navigandi  ad  oinnes 

piirtos,  rogionos  et  sinus  maris  oriontalis,  occidcntalis  et  sep- 

I  lomtrioualis,  sub  banuoris,  voxiliis  et  insigniis  nostris,  cum 

,|iiiii(|ae  navibus    sivo    navigiis  cujuscumque   portiturae  et 

|(|militatis  existant,  et  cum  tot  et  tautis  nautis  et  boiniuibus 

(|Uot  et  quantos  in  dictis  navibus  secum  ducere  voluerint. 

<iiisot  oorura  propriis  sumptilmset  expensis  ad  inveniendum, 

fccoporiendum  et  investigandum  (piascunifiue  insulas,  pat- 

I riiis,  rogiones  sive  provineias  gcntilium  et  infidelium  ( (juo- 

mmciunque),  in  quacumque  parte  mundi  positas  quo  Chris- 

jtiaiiis  omnibus  ante  hee  tempora  fuerint  incognita. 

Concessimus  etiam  eisdemet  eorum  cuilibet,  eorumque  et 

iiijuslibet     eorum     beredibus    et    deputatis,    ac    licentiam 

iiltdimua     ad    atiigendum     predictas    banneras    nostras    et 

insignia  in  quacumque  vilbi,  oppido,  castra,  insuhi  sen  terra 

tirina  a  se  noviter  inventi.s.     Et  quod  pronominati  Jobunnes 

it  tilii  ejusdem,  seu  lieredes  et  eorumdem  deputati  quascum- 

(jue  imjusmodi  villas,  castra,  oppida  et  insulas  a  se  invontas, 

(|iie  subjugari,  occupari  et  {>    .sideri  possint,  subjugare,  oc- 

ciipare    et  possidere    valeant,  tamquam    vassalli    nostri    et 

jgiibornatores,    locatenentes    et   deputati    eorundem,    domi- 

Inium,  titulum    et  jurisdictionem   eorundem   villarum,  cas- 

troruin,    oppidorum,     insularum    ac    tcrre     firme    sic    in- 

ventorum,  nobis  acquirendo.     Ita  tamen  ut  ex  omnibus  fruc- 

Itibus,  proficuis,  emolumentis,  commodis,  lucris  et  obventio- 

liiibus,   ex  hujusmodi  navigatione  provenientibus,  prefatus 

iJoiinnos   et  filii,  ac    heredes,  et   eorum  deputati    teneantur 

let  slut   obligati   nobis,  pro   omni    viagio   suo,  totiens   quo- 

jtieiis  ad  portum  nostrum  BristoUie  applicuerint,  ad  quern 

jomninoapplicare  teneantur  et  sint  astricti,  deductis  omnibus 

Isuinptibus  et  impensis  necessariis  per  eosdem  factis,  quintara 

Jpiiitein  capitalis  lucri  facti,  sive  in  mercibus,  sive  in  pecuniis 

jpersolvere. 

Dantes  nos  et  concedentes  eisdem  suisque  beredibus  et  de- 
Iputatis,  ut  ab  omni  solutione  custumarum  omnium  ot  singu- 
Boiiuu  bonorum  ac  mercium  quas  secum  reportarint  ab  illis 
Bocis  sic  noviter  inventis,  liberi  sint  et  immunes.     Et  insuper 

21 


^'1?  .' 


i 


(     '  ■'■''Sf 


322 


APPENDIX  NO.  6. 


I*    I 


dedimus  et  concessimus  eisdem  ac  suis  heredibus  et  doputatis, 
quod  terre  omnes  firme,  insule,  ville,  oppida,  castra,  et| 
loca  qusecumque  a  se  inventa,  quotquot  ab  eis  inveniri  conj 
tigerit,  non  possint  abaliis  quibusvis  nostris  subditis  frequeu-j 
tari  sen  visitari  absque  licentia  predictorum  loannis  et  ejus 
tiliorum,  suorumque  deputatorum,  sub  pena  amissioiiisj 
tarn  navium  quam  bonorum  ominum  quorumeumque  adj 
ea  loca  sic  inventa  navigare  presumentium. 

Volentes  et  strictissime  mandantes  omnibus  et  siiifjiilisi 
nostris  subditis,  tam  in  terra  quam  in  mare  constitutisJ 
ut  prefato  loanni  et  eius  filiis  ac  deputatis,  bonam  asl 
sistentiam  faciant,  et  tam  in  armandis  navibus  sou  niivil 
giis,  quam  in  provisione  com  meatus  et  victualium  pro! 
sua  pecunia  eraendorum,  atque  aliarum  rerum  sibi  providen- 
darura,  pro  dicta  navigatione  sumenda  suos  omnes  faj 
vores  et  auxilia  impartiant.  In  cuius  rei  testimonium  has  lit-J 
teras  nostras  fieri  ^ecimus  patentes :  teste  me  ipso  apudj 
westiuonasterium  <(uinto  die  Murtii,  &c. 


VI. 


The  following  despatch  is  in  reply  to  one  from  Dr.  Pueblaj 
to  their  Catholic  Highnesses.    Puebla's  dispatch  cannot 
found,  but  its  contents  are  clearly  shown  by  what  is  sai(| 
by  the  Spanish  sovereigns  in  their  reply. 

Copia  de  parrafro  de  ruinuta  de  carta  de  los  Reyes  catolim « 
Doctor  Puchlafecha  en  Tortosa  d  28  de  imarzo  de  1496. 


Public  Records  of  Simancas.  Capitulaciones  con  Inglatemj 
Legajo  (  a  mass  of  loose  papers  )  2°,  f  °,  16. 

Quanto  a  lo  que  desis  que  alia  es  yda  uno  como  colon  pa 
poner  al  Rey  de  ynglaterra  en  otro  negociocorao  eldelasyii 
dias  syn  perjuysio  de  espafia  ni  de  portogal  sy  asy  le  aciulej 


APPENDIX  NO.  7. 


323 


el  como  a  nosotros  lo  de  las  yndias  bien  librado  estara  creheraos 
que  esto  sera  echadiso  del  Re}'  de  francia  por  poner  en  esto  la 
Key  de  ynglaterra  para  le  apartar  de  otros  negocios,  mirad  que 
procureis  que  en  esto  ny  en  Ic  seinejante  no  Resciba  engafio 
el  Rcy  de  ynglaterra  que  por  quantas  partes  pudieren  traba- 
jaraii  los  franceses  de  gelo  hazer,  y  estas  cosas  semejantes  son 
I  t(«:is  niuy  yn  yiertas  y  tales  que  para  agora  no  conviene  en  ten- 
der en  ellas  y  tan  bien  mirad  que  aquellas  ..  *  no  se  puede  en- 
teiuler  en  esto  syn  perjuisio  nuestro  o  del  Rey  de  portogal, 
Hiirrisse,  in  communicating  to  Desimonithis  dispatcb,which 
I  with  the  exception  of  one  sentence,  was  unpublished,  adds  : 
•Je  n'  ai  plus  la  premiere  phrase  :    J'ai  refit  voire  lettre  dii  21 
\himer"  Desimoni,  Inlorno  a  Giovanni  Caboto,  Genova,  1881. 


■■iM 


% 


^ 


Ls  con  Inglaterra 


VII. 

lExb-adfrom  an  anonymous  chronicle,  part  of  Robert  Cotton's  collec- 
tion in  the  British  Museum,  on  the  voyage  of  John  Cabot  in  1497. 

In  anno  13  Henr.  V[T.  This  yere  the  Kyng  at  the  besy 
request  and  supplication  of  a  Straunger  venisian,  wich  by  a 
X'ueart  made  hym  self  expert  in  knowying  of  the  world  caused 
llie  Kyng  to  manne  a  ship  w^  vytaill  and  other  necessair- 
Islor  toseche  an  iland  wheryn  the  said  Straunger  surmysed 
be  grete  commodities  :  w'  wliich  ship  by  the  Kynges 
trace  so  Rygged  went  3  or  4  moo  owte  of  Bristowe,  the  said 
Itraungcr  beyng  Conditor  of  the  saido  Flete,  wheryn  diuers 
prchauntes  as  well  of  London  as  Bristow  aventured  goodes 
|ik1  sleight  merchaundises,  which  dei.arted  from  the  West 
uiitrey  in  the  begynnyng  of  Somer,  but  to  this  present 
bieth  came  nevir  Knowlego  of  their  exployt. 
I  (Ms.  Cott.  Vitellius,  A.  xiv.  f.  173,  British  Museum. 

M.  d'  Avezac  fills  this  spncp  with  the  word  partes. 


'1  U     '  I 


324 


APPENDIX  NO.  9. 


W 


VIII. 

Extract  from  the  Chronicle  attributed  to   Robert  Fabynn   ao^ 
cording  to  Richard  Hakluyt's  reading. 

A  note  of  Sebastian's  Gabotes  voyages  of  DiscoverieJ 
taken  out  of  an  old  chronicle,  written  by  Robert  Fabyanl 
some  time  Alderman  of  London,  which  is  in  the  custodJ 
of  John  Stowe,  citizen,  a  diligent  searcher  and  preserver  o| 
antiquities. 

This  yere   the  King    (by   meanes  of  a  Venetian,  wind] 
made  himselfe  very  expert  and  cunning 
Knowledge  of  the  circuit  of  the  worlde,  and 
ilands  of  the  same  as  by  a  carde,  and  otliej 


la  ihe  18  yere 
of  King  Heurie 
the  Vn,  1498. 


demonstrations  reasonable  hee  shewed)  caused  to  man  and 
victuall  a  shippe  at  Bristow  to  search  for  an  ilande,  which  lieJ 
saide  hee  Knewe  wel  was  riche,  and  replenished  with  rielij 
commodities.  Which  ship    thus  manned  and   victualled  a| 
the  Kinges  cost,  divers  marchants  of  London  ventured  in  liej 
small  stockes,  being  in  her,as  chiefc  Patrone,  the  said  Venetiai^ 
And  in  the  company  of  the  said  shippe  sayled  also  out 
Bristowe,  three  or  foure  small  ships,  fraught  '.vitlj 
sleight  and  grosse  merchandizes  as  course  clot!) 
Caps,  laces,  points  and  other  trifles,  and  so  departed  froij 
Bristowe  in  the  beginning  of  May  :  of  wlioi^ 
in  this  Maior's  time  returned  no  tidings. 


Bristow. 


William  Purclias 
Maior  of  London 


(E'iakluyt,  Divers  voyages  toncliing  the  disconrie  of  AmericA 
London,  1582,  in  4*".) 


_.i33    „  -; 


IX. 

TTie  same  extract  according  to  John  Stowe's  reading. 

In  anno  14  Henr.  VIL*  This  yeare  one  Sebastian  Gabati 
a  genoas  sonne   borne   in   Bristow   professing   himselfe 

*  The  number  14  is  an  error  ;  it  should  l)e  13,  as  Hakluyt  puts  it,  tij 
fijso  AnoDjsrmouslD  the  Cottoni^D  collection. 


APPENDIX  NO.  10. 


325 


[be  experte  in  knowledge  of  the  circuit  of  the  worlde  and 
llliindes  of  the  same,  as  by  his   Oharts   and   other   reason- 
able (lenionstrations  lie  shewed,  caused  the  King  to  man  and 
I  victual  a  shippe  at  Bristow  to  search  for  an  Ilande  wiche 
he  Knewe  to  be  replenished  with  rich  commodities  :   in  the 
Isliip  diverse  merchauntes  of  London  adventured  smal  stockes, 
liiiiil  in  the  company  of  this  shippe,  sayled  also  out  of  Bristow 
I  !iiec  or  foure  smal  shippes  fraught  with  slight  and  grosse 
luiucs  as  course  cloth,  Caps,   Laces,   points  and  such  other. 
(Annals  or  a  great  Chronicle  of  England  begun  by  I.  Stow, 
icontinued  by  Edm.  Howes,  London,  1G3L  p.  480.) 

Stow  follows  this  extract  with  this  other  taken  from  Sir  Hum- 
Iplirey  Gilbert's  Discourse  For  a  new  Passage  to  Cataia. 

Sir  Humphrey  Gilbert  Knight  in  his  booke  intituled  a  dis- 
Icoverie  for  a  new  passage  to  Cataia  writeth  thus,  Sebastian 
jGiibato,  by  hys  personal  experience  and  travaile  hath  set  forth 
land  discribed  this  passage  in  his  Charles,  whiche  are  yet  to  be 
Iseenc  in  y*^  queenes  Maiestes  privie  Gallerie,  at  White  Hall, 
[who  was  sent  to  make  this  discoverie  by  King  Henrie  the  sev- 
jeutli,  and  entered  the  same  fret,  affirming  y'  he  sayled  very  far 
jffestward  vvyth  a  quarter  of  the  North  on  the  Northside  of  Term 
pe  Labrador,  the  eleventh  of  June,  until  he  came  to  the  sep- 
putrional  latitude  of  07 i  degrees,  and  finding  tho  seas  stil 
Jopen,  sayd,  y*he  might  and  would  l»ave  gone  to  Cataia  if  the 
Inimitie  of  the  Maister  and  Marin       liad  not  bene. 


X. 


Hakliiyt  puts  it.  »i| 


^di ads  from  accounts  of  the  privy  purse  of  Henry    VII    (from 
the  M  S.  of  the  British  Museum,  Additional  7099,  printed  in 
the  Excerpta  Historica,  or  Illustrations  of  English  History,  pul ' 
lished  by  S.  Bentley,  London,  1831. ) 

-Fol.  41  (anno)  12  Henrie  VII,  1497. 
[August  10.  To  hym  that  founde  the  new  Isle,  L.  10."  (p.  113.) 
-Fol.  45,  12  Hen.  VII,  1498. 


■| 


1.1]  j.iiiiiiiwiiipiip 


fi  -^ 


i'. 


326 


APPENDIX  NO.  11. 


"March  22.  To  Lanslot  Thirkillof  London  upon  a  Prestfor 
his  shipp  going  towards  the  new  Ilande,  L.  20." 

— "Item  delivered  to  Launcelot  Thirkill  going  towards  the 
new  He  in  Prest,  L.  20." 

"April  1st.  Item  to  Thomas  Bradley  and  Launcelot  Tliir- 
kill  going  to  the  new  Isle,  L.  30." 

—"To  John  Carter  going  to  the  newe  He  in  reward,  40  s " 
(pp.  116,  117.) 


•  • ,  fi 


♦  ' 


XI. 

Copia  de  uno  capitolo  scrive  in  una  Idera  Sier  Lorenzo  Pasqualigo  i 
di  Sier  Filippo,  di  Londra  adi  23  agosto,  a  Sier  Alvise  e  Fiwicesn  \ 
Pasqualigo  suo  fradeli  Veniexia,  ricevuta  adi  23.  Setembrio  1497. 

"L'e  venuto  sto  nostro  Venetian o  clie  ando  con  uno  iiavilio  j 
de  Bristo  a  trovar  ixole  nove,  e  dice  haver  trovato  li^^e  7( 
lontam  de  qui   Teraferma,  ze  el  paexe  del  gram  cam,  e  die  I 
andato  per  la  costa  lige  300,  e  che  desmontato  e  non  a  visto  j 
persona  alguna,  ma  a  portato  qui  al  re  certi  lazi  ch'era  tos 
per  prender  salvadexine,  e  uno  ago  da  far  rede  e  a  trovato  j 
certi  albori  tagiati,  si  che  per  questo  iudicha  die  ze  persone, 
Vene  in  mare  per  dubito,*  et  e  stato  mexi  tri  sul  viazo  e  questo  ] 
e  certo,  e  al  tornar  aldreto  a  visto  do  ixole  ma  non  ha  voliito 
desender  per  non  perder  tempo  che  la  vituaria  li  niuiicava. 
Sto  re  ne  habuto  grande  piacer  e  dise  che  le  aque  e  stanclie  o 
non  hano  corso  come  qui.  El  re  li  ha  promesso  a  tern  j)o  novo  j 
navil  X  e  arraati  come  lui  vor^  ed  ali  dato  tutti  i  prosouiori 
da  trad  i  tori  in  fuora  che  vadano  con  lui  come  lui  a  richiestol 
e  ali  dato  danari  fazi  bona  ziera  fino  a  quel  tempo  e  con  so 
moier  venitiana  e  con  so  fioli  a  Bristo.       El  qual  se  ('liiamaj 
Zuam  Talbot, f  e  chiamasi  el  gran  armirante  e  vienli  fatoj 


•  It  seems  that  he  means  to  say  :  "in  the  belief  that  the  country  was  inbaN  j 
itcd  he  returned  to  his  ship  per  dubito,  i.  e,  doubting  of  his  reception  bytliej 
natives." 

t  "I  have  no  doubt  I'at  we  should  read  Cabot,  the  more  so  as  this  ramej 
is  altered  to  Oabot  in   ae  later  pages  of  the  text  of  Sanudo.  This  is  furtlierl 


Launcelot  Thir- 


n  reward,  40  s." 


APPENDIX  NO.  12. 


B27 


granrle  honor  e  va  vestido  deseda  e  sti  Inglexi  li  vano  driedo 
a  mo  pazi  e  pur  ne  volese  tanti  quanti  navrebbe  con  lui  e 
etiiiin  molti  de  nostri  furfanti.  Sto  inventor  de  queste  cose  a 
iiiipiaiitato  suli  terreni  a  trovato  una  gran  +  con  una 
bandiera  de  Ingeltera  e  una  de  san  Marcho  per  essere  lui 
Veuetiano,  si  che  el  nostro  confalone  se  stese  molto  in  qu^  .  " 
(Marin  Sanudo.  Diarii,  vol.  i,  p.  806.  Venezia,  1879.). 


■:•:'! 


■   ■.■i..;.|.jiaj 


XII. 


Extract  from  a  letter  of  Raimondo  da  Soncino,  Ambassador  of  the 
Duke  of  Milan  to  the  Court  of  Henry  VII.  {Archivii  Sforza 
Milano.) 

Rawdon  Brown  published  it  in  English  in  his  Calendar  &c., 
vol.  iii,  p  260,  n.  750.  The  original  in  the  State  archives  of 
Milan  cannot  be  found  :  H.  Harrisse  has  published  the  text 
as  in  the  original,  as  it  appears  from  the  copy  which  Rawdon 
Brown  got  from  the  Public  Record  Office.     It  runs  thus  : 

Londra,  24  Agosto,  1497. —  Item  la  Magesta  de  Re  sono 
mesi  passate  havia  mandato  uno  Veneciano  el  qual  e  molto 
bono  marinare  e  a  bona  scientia  de  trovare  insule  nove,  e 
ritornato  a  salvamento  et  a  ritrovato  due  insule  nove  gran- 
dissime  et  fructiffere  et  etiam  trovato  le  septe  citade  lontane 
da  r  insula  de  Ingilterra  lege  400  per  lo  camino  de  ponente  : 
la  Maesta  de  Re  questo  primo  bono  tempo  gli  vole  man- 
dare  XV  in  XX  navili. 

H.  Harrisse,  Jean  et  Sebastien  Cabot,  p.  323. 


[  justified  by  note  74  on  page  217  of  vol.  i  of  Rawdon  Brown's  work.    On  the 
Life  and  worka  of  Maria  Sanudo."  L.  Pasini,  INavigaton  al  Polo  Artico,  p.lOg 


(■ ' If -•'Saij  I'J' '  'I"  "  'W^ 


■mm 


1 


328 


APPENDIX  NO.  13. 


Mm" 


xiii.  . 

Second  Letter  of  Raimondo  da  Soncino  (Archivio  di  Stato  in 
Milano,  Potenze  Estere,  Inghilterra,  1497,  dicembre). 

18  J )eccmbre  1497. —  Illustrissimo  et  excellentissimo  Signor 
mio.  Forsi  che  tra  tante  occupatione  V.  Ex.  non  li  savh  mo- 
lesto  intendere  come  questa  Maest^  ha  guadagnato  una  jiarto 
do  Asia  senza  colpo  de  spada.  In  questo  regno  e  uno  popo- 
lare  Venctiano  chiamato  messer  Zoanne  Caboto  de  gontile 
ingenio,  peritissimo  della  navigatione,  el  qual  visto  olio  li 
Serenissimi  R«  prima  del  Portugallo  poi  de  iSpagna  hanno  oc- 
cupato  isole  incognite,  delibera  fare  uno  simile  acquisto  per 
dicta  Maest^.  Ed  impetrato  privilegj  regij,  che  lutile  doininio 
de  quanto  el  trovasse  fosse  suo,  purche  lo  diretto  se  reserva 
alia  Corona,  cum  uno  piccolo  naviglio  e  XVII I  persone  se  pose 
ala  fortuna,  et  partitosi  da  Bristo  porto  occidentale  de  quostn 
regno  et  passato  Ibernia  piu  occidentale,  e  poi  alzatosi  verso 
el  septentrione,  comencio  ad  na^igare  ale  parte  orientale. 
lassandosi  (fra  qualche  giorni)  la  tramontana  ad  mano  drita, 
et  havendo  assai  errato,  inline  capitoe  in  terra  ferma,  dove 
posto  la  bandera  regia,  et  tolto  la  possessione  per  questa 
Alteza,  et  preso  certi  segnali,  se  ne  ritornato.  Al  ditto  messer 
Zoanne,  come  alienigena  et  povero  non  saria  creduto,  se  li  com- 
pagni  chi  sono  quasi  tutti  inglesi  et  da  IBristo  non  testiticas- 
sero  cio  che  lui  dice  esser  vero.  Esso  messer  Zoanne  ha  la(le.s- 
criptione  del  mondo  in  una  carta,  et  anche  in  una  Sj)licra 
solida  che  lui  ha  fatto,  et  demonstra  dove  6  capitate,  et  an- 
dando  verso  el  levante  ha  passato  assai  el  paese  del  Tanais.  Et 
dicono  che  lae  terra  optima  et  temperata,  et  estimanno  quevi 
nasca  el  })rasilio  et  le  sete,  et  affermanno  che  quelle  mare  e 
coperto  de  pessi  li  quali  so  prendenno  non  solo  cum  la  rete,  nia 
cum  le  ciste,  essendoli  alligato  uno  saxo  ad  cio  che  la  cista  se 
impozi  in  lagua,  et  questo  io  I'ho  oldito  narrare  al  dicto  mes- 
ser loanne. 

Et  ditti  Inglesi  suoi  compagni  dicono  che  portaranno  tanti 


APPENDIX  NO.  18. 


329 


10  di  Stato  in 
dicembro). 

tissimo  Signer 
ion  li  sarii  mo- 
nato  una  parte 
ao  e  uno  popo- 
»oto  de  gentile 
il  visto  ohe  li 
agna  hanno  oc- 
le  acquisto  per 
3  lutile  doniinio 
•etto  so  rcserva 
;  persone  se  pose 
nitale  de  quosto 
li  alzatosi  vcm 
parte  orieutale, 
ad  mano  drita. 
■va  ferma,  dove 
lone  per  questa 
Al  ditto  messer 
■eduto,  se  li  com- 
,o  non  testitioas- 
ioanne  ha  la  des- 
in  una  sjdiera 
capitato,  ot  au- 
ledelTanais.  Kt 
Istim anno  quo  vi 
quelle  mare  c 
cum  la  reto,ma 
to  che  la  cista  se 
tvre  al  dicto  nies- 

)ortaranno  tanli 


pcssi  che  qucsto  regno  no  havera  piu  bisogno  de  Islanda,  del 
quale  paese  viene  una  grandissima  mercantia  de  pessi  che  si 
chiamano  stockfisse.  Ma  messer  Zoanne  ha  posto  1'  animo  ad 
magior  cosa  perche  pensa,  da  cuelloloco  occupato  andarsene 
seinpre  a  Riva  Riva  piu  verso  3I  Levante,  tanto  chel  sia  al  op- 
posito  de  una  Isola  da  lui  chiamata  Cipango,  posta  in  ia  rc- 
gione  equinoctiale,  dove  crede  che  nascono  tutte  le  .speciario 
del  mundo  et  anche  le  gioie,  et  dice  che  altre  volte  csso  e 
stato  alia  Meccha,  dove  per  caravane  de  luntani  paesi  sono  por- 
tate  le  speciarie,  et  domandati  qnelli  che  le  portanno,  dove 
nascono  ditte  speciarie,  respondenno  che  non  sanno,  ma  che 
vonghono  cum  questa  mercantia  da  luntani  paesi  ad  casa  sua 
altre  caravane,  le  quale  ancora  dicono  che  ad  loro  sono  por- 
tatc  da  altre  remote  regioni.  Et  fa  (^uorfto  argumento  die  so 
li  orientali  afterraanno  ali  meridional!  che  queste  cose  vengho- 
no  lontano  da  loro,  et  cosi  da  mano  in  mano,  presupposta  la 
rotundity  della  terra,  e  necessario  che  li  ultimi  le  tolliano  al 
septentrione  verso  1'  occidente.  Et  dicello  per  raodo  che  non 
me  constando  piu  como  costa,  ancora  io  lo  credo.  Et  choe 
uiaggior  cosa  questa  maest^  che  e  savia  et  non  prodiga,  an- 
cora lei  li  presta  qualche  fede,  perche  da  poi  chel  e  tomato, 
li  d^  assai  bona  provisione  come  esso  messer  Zoanne  me  dice. 
Eta  tempo  novo  se  dice  che  la  MaestA  prefata  armara  alcuni 
naviglij,  et  ultra  li  dar^tutti  li  malfattori  et  anderano  in 
quello  paese  ad  fare  una  colonia,  mediante  la  quale  sperano 
de  fare  in  Londres  magior  fondaco  do  speciarie  che  sia  in  A- 
lexandria,  et  li  principali  dell'  impresa  sono  de  Bristo,  grandi 
marinari  li  quali  bora  che  sanno  dove  andare,  dicono  che  la 
non  e  navigatione  de  piu  che  XV  giorni,  ne  hanno  mai  for- 
tuna  come  abandonano  Ibernia.  Ho  ancora  parlato  cum  uno 
Borgognone  compagno  di  mess.  Zoanne  chi  afferma  tutto  et 
vole  tornarci  perche  lo  armirante  (che  gia  messer  Zoanne  cosi 
se  intitula)  li  ha  donato  una  Isola  ;  et  ne  ha  donato  una  al- 
tra  ad  un  suo  barbiere  da  castione  genovese,  et  intrambi  se  re- 
putanno  conti,  ne  monsignor  L'  Armirante  se  estima  manco 
de  principe.  Credo  ancora  andarano  cum  questo  passaggio 
alcun  poveri  frati  Italiani  H  quali  tutti  hanno  promissiono 
de  Vescovati.    Et  per  essere  io  fatto  amico  de  Larmirante, 


■i.  !,  ■ 

■  t  ■ 


m 

1 
.■1 

1 

.^. 

! 

•  1 

4'; '  • 


330 


APPENDIX  NO.  14. 


quando  voleaei  andarvi,  haverei  uno  Archivescovato,  ma  ho 
pensato  chel  sia  piu  secura  cosa  li  beneficij  quali  V.  Ex.  mo 
ha  reservati,  et  per^o  supplico  che  quando  vacassero  in  niia 
absentia  la  me  faccia  dare  la  possessione,  ordenando  fra  questo 
megio  dove  bisogna,  che  non  me  siano  tolti  da  altri,  li  quiili 
per  essere  present!  possono  essere  piii  diligeuti  di  me,  el  quale 
sono  redutto  in  questo  paese  ad  mangiare  ogni  pasto  de  x  o 
xii  vivande,  et  stare  tre  hore  ad  tavola  per  volta  ogni  gionio 
due  volte  per  amore  de'  Vostra  Excellentia.  A  la  quale  hu- 
mihuente  me  recomando. 

Londonie,  xviii  Decern.  1497. 

Excellentie  Vestre, 

Humillimus  Servus, 

Raimundus. 


XIV. 

Second   Letter    Patent  of  the    King  of  England  to   John  Cabot 

(  1498,  3  February  ). 

(  Public  Record  office,  Chancery,  signed  Bill,  sub  anno 
13  Henr.  VII.  no.  6  ). 

Memorandum  quod  tertio  die  februarii  anno  regni  regis 
Henrici  Septimi  XIII  ista  Billa  deliberata  fuit  domino  Can- 
cellario  Anglie  apud  Westraonasterium  exequenda. 
To  the  Kynge. 

Please  it  your  Highnesse,  of  your  moste  noble  and  abund- 
ant grace  to  graunte  to  John  Kabotto,  Veneciane  your  gracious 
lettres  patentes  in  due  forme  to  be  made  accordyng  to 
the  tenor  hereafter  ensuyng,  and  hy  shall  continually  praye  to 
God  for  the  preservation  of  your  moste  noble  and  royale 
Estate  longe  to  endure. 

H.  R.  (  Henricus  Rex.  ). 

To  all  men  to  whom  theis  Presentis  Shall  come  send  Greting 
Knowe  ye  that  we  of  our  Grace  especiall,  and  for  dy  vers  causis 
us  movyng,  We  have  geven  and  graunten  and  by  theis 
Presentis  geve  and  graunte  to  our  w  11  beloved  John  Kabotto, 


APPENDIX  NO.  15. 


331 


0   John  Cabot 


ill,  sub  anno 


Vcnician,  sufficiente  auctorite  and  power,  that  he,  by  hymhis 
I)ei)utie  or  Deputies  sufficient,  may  take  at  his  pleasure  V^I 
Knglisshe  shippes  in  any  Forte  or  Fortes  or  other  place 
within  this  our  Realine  of  England  or  obcinsaunce  to  that, 
and  if  the  said  shippes  be  of  the  bourdeyn  of  CC.  ton- 
nes or  under,  with  their  a})pareil  requisite  and  necessarie 
for  the  safe  conduct  of  the  said  shippes,  and  theym  con- 
vey and  Icdo  to  the  Lande  and  lies  of  late  founde  by  the  seid 
John  in  oure  name  and  by  oure  coumandemente,  payng  for 
theym  and  every  of  theym  as  and  if  wo  should  in  or  for 
our  oweu  cause  paye  and  noon  otherwise. 

And  that  the  seid  John  by  hym  his  Deputie  or  Deputies 
sufficiente  maye  take  and  receyve  into  the  seid  shippes 
and  every  of  theym  all  suche  maisters,  maryners,  pages, 
and  our  subjects,  as  of  theyr  owen  free  wille  woU  goo 
and  passe  with  hym  in  the  same  shippes  to  the  seid  Lande  or 
lies  withoute  any  impedymente  lett  or  perturbance  of 
any  of  our  officeis  or  ministress  or  subjectes  whatsoevir 
they  be  by  theym  to  the  seid  subjectes  or  any  of  theym  passing 
with  the  seid  John  in  the  seid  shippes  to  the  seid  Lande  or 
lies  to  be  doon  or  sutler  to  be  doon  or  attempted.  Yeving  in 
commaundement  to  all  and  every  our  officers  ministres 
and  subjectes  seyng  or  heryng  theis  our  lettres  patents,  with- 
oute anye  ferther  commaundement  by  us  to  theym  or 
any  of  theym  to  be  geven,  to  perfourme  and  socour  the  seid 
John,  his  Deputie  and  all  our  seid  subjectes  to  passynge  with 
him  according  to  the  tenor  of  theis  our  lettres  patentis.  Any 
Statute,  acta  or  ordenaunce  to  the  contrarye  made  or  to 
be  made  in  any  wise  notwithstanding. 


'Xi 


I 


XV. 

Letter  of  Dr.  Puebla  to  the  Catholic  Kings,  Ferdinand  and  Isa- 
bella (1498  ). 

"  El  Rey  de  Inglaterra  embia  cinco  naos  armadas  con  o- 
tro  genoves  como  colono  a  buscar  la  Isla  de  Brasil  y  las  vicin- 


■ 

P^Sj 

ip 

i::     ..■..It 

■  -^  i. 

■    -} 

'11 

1} 

■1 

II 

m 

I*  t ! ; ! 


332 


APPENDIX  NO    10, 


idades,*  fueron  proveydos  por  un  aflo.  Dicen  que  seran 
venidos  para  al  el  Septiembre.  Vista  la  derrota  que  llcviui 
alio  que  lo  que  buscan  es  lo  que  Vuestras  Altezas  poseen.  El  rey 
itiohafablado  alcunas  veccs  subrello  espera  haver  muy  grun  in- 
tcrosse.      Oreo  que  no  hay  de  aqui  alia  CCCC  Icguas." 

Extracted  from  Bcrgenroth's  charts  preserved  in  the  Pul)lic 
Record  Office  at  London,  on  the  copy  which  lie  drew  from 
the  original  in  the  archives  of  Simancas.  It  is  undated 
but  from  its  contents  must  have  little  preceded  the  following 
letter  from  Ayala. 


»«  » 


KVfS 
I  ■ 


h   . 


■  (, 


XVI. 

Letter  of  Prothonotary  Pedro  de  Ayala  to  the  Catholic  Kings 

(25  July,  1498 ). 

"  Bien  creo,  vuestras  altezas  an  oido,  corao  el  Rey  de  Ing- 
laterra  ha  fecho  armada  para  descubrir  ciertas  islas  y  tierra 
tirme  que  le  han  certificado  hallaron  ciertos  que  de  Bristol 
armaron  ano  passado  para  lo  mismo.  Yo  he  visto  la  carta 
que  ha  fecho  el  inventador  que  es  otro  genoves  como  Colon 
que  ha  estado  en  Sevilla  y  en  Lisbona  procurando  haver  quien 
le  ayudasse  a  esta  invencion.  Los  de  Bristol,  ha  siete  ano 
que  cada  ano  an  armado  dos,  tres,  cuatro  caravelas  para  ir  a 
buscar  la  isla  de  Brasil  y  las  siete  ciudades  con  la  fantasia 
deste  Ginoves.  El  Rey  deterraino  de  enbiar  porque  el  ano 
passado  le  truxo  certenidad  que  havian  hallado  tierra.  Del 
armada  que  hizo  que  fueron  cinco  naos  fueron  avitallados  por 
un  ano.  Ha  venido  nueva  la  una  en  que  iva  un  otro  Fai 
{  sic  pro  Fray  ?)  Bull  aporto  en  Irlanda  con  gran  tormento 
rotto  el  navio. 

"El  ginoves  tiro  su  camino.  Yo,  vista  la  derrota  que  llevan 
y  la  cantidad  del  camino  hallo  que  es  lo  que  han  hallado 
o  buscan  lo  que  Vuestras  Altezas  poseen,  porque  es  al  cabo 

*  Desimoni  suspects  that  vicinit/aau  in  the  original  should  be  septe  citades, 
Jntorno  a  Qiovanni  Caboto,  Pref,  p.  15. 1  am  of  his  opinion. 


APPENDIX  NO.  17. 


;i:i;j 


e  septe  citadcs, 


(|ue  tt  Vuestras  Altezas  capo  por  la  convencion  con  Portugal. 
Sperase  seran  venidos  para  el  seticmbre.  Hago  lo  sa- 
ber a  Vuestras  Altezas.  El  Rey  do  Ynglaterra  me  ha  fablado 
algunas  vezes  sobro  ello.  Spero  aver  muy  gran  intcresse* 
Creo  no  ay  quatro  cientos  leguas.  Yo  lo  dixe,  creya  eran  las 
halladas  por  Vuestras  Altezas,  y  aun  le  dia  la  mia  razon  nolo 
querria.  Porque  creo  V.  A.  ya  tendran  aviso  do  todo  lo  y  asy- 
mismo  al  carta  o  mapa  mundi  que  este  ha  fccho,  yo  no  la 
enbio  agora,  que  aqui  la  ay,  y  a  mi  ver  bien  falsa  por  dar  a 
entender,  no  son  de  las  islas  dichas." 
(Simancas,  Estado.  Tradado  con  Inglaterra.  Legaio  2.) 


XVII. 

Accounts  of  Payments  to  Sebastian  Cabot  in  Spain. 

A.  En  6  Marzo  514  :  se  dan  a  Sebast.  Cabot  50  ducados  en 
cuenta  del  salario  que  se  le  ha  de  dar,  con  que  fuese  a  la  corte 
a  consultar  con  S.  A.  las  cosas  del  viaje  que  ha  de  llevar  a 
descubrir 18750. 

B  Cedula  del  26  Marzo  1514.  Supone  recibido  Capitan  pa- 
ra las  cosas  de  mar  a  Sebast.  Caboto  Ingles  con  50,000  i  se 
manda  que  por  quanto  estav  a  aderezando  cosa  de  su  casa  i 
hacienda  para  venirze,  le  paguen  enteramente  el  salario  desde 
que  fue  recibido  hasta  que  vino  i  se  presento. 


*  It  is  thus  in  the  document  according  to  the  copy  wliich  Bergenroth 
(Calendars,  vol,  i,  p.  176—177.  n.  210  )  obtained  from  the  Simancas  records, 
uud  the  words  would  mean  "I  hope  for  a  very  great  profit,"  but  no  sense  can 
be  made  of  that.  Reumont  (  Archivio  Storico  Italiano,  t.  VI,  Anno  1880, 
p.  416),  to  make  sense,  joined  this  sentence  with  the  preceding,  and  explained 
it  thus  :  "I  write  these  details,  the  king  having  often  spoken  tome  of  tliem, 
believing  that  your  Highnesses  would  feel  great  interest  in  them."  But  the  only 
change  needed  is  to  put  Uie  third  person  spera  for  the  first  spero.  In  the  text 
of  my  narrative  I  have  proved  that  Ayalu's  letter  traced  after  Puebla's,  and 
the  latter  has  "espera  haver  muy  gran  interesse;"  that  is,  the  King  of  England 
has  several  times  spoken  to  me  about  it  and  "he  hopes  to  derive  great  profit 
from  it." 


'(■ 


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334 


Al'l'KNDIX  NO.   18. 


I'll 


•  • 


C.  En  7  April  se  le  libraron  18,0374  mrs  a  complimiento  do 
70,(i37!  (1(!  eiKiuitrtciondo  Cupitnii  dcH  A.  desdo  20  Octulno 
512  Imsta  lin  de  April  514,  n  razoii  do  5(),()()()  por  iino.  Kn 
LoiidrcH  Imviu  recibido  do  I).  Luis  Carros  Embajador  4l,2'){). 
En  11  may  so  lo  libro  un  tercio  adohintado  do  su  salario  por 
estar  ^astado  do  uu  venida  do  LondroH,  i  haver  enbiado  a  U-.wv 
8U  niugor,  (Mss.  of  Mufloz,  fol,  515).) 

1515 

D  En  30  Agosto  a  Hob.  Caboto  (^apitan  do  mar  40,2()7  i  inr.s; 
por  Codula  Roal  para  quo  so  lo  pagase  el  salario  do  0.  niosos 
i  20  dias  quo  so  lo  dojaron  do  pagar  el  afio  que  fue  recibido  a 
dicho  officio  con  salario  de  50,000,  Ademas  sin  i  desto  aflo  : 
l(),()nO. 

E.  N()in])ranso  osto  aflo  Pilotos  de  S.  A  con  suoldo  Soils 
mayor — Sob.  Cabot — Andres  de  S  Martin — Juan  Vespuche — 
luan  Serrano — Andres  Garcia  de  Nifio — Francisco  Colo — 
Francisco  de  Torres — Vasco  Gallego   (MunozMS.) 

1519 

Pilotos  do  Roi.  Mayo  6. 

F. — A  Andres  de  San  Martin,  Francisco  do  Soto,  luan  Ser- 
rano, a  cada  10,000  por  ol  i  do  sus  salaries — a  Sebastian  Gabot, 
Capitan  o  Piloto  mayor,  25,000  por    i  de  su  salario. 

— A  Andres  Nino,  Vasco  Gallego,  luan  Rodriguez  do 
Mafra,  Estevan  Gomez,  luan  Vespuche,  Francisco  de  Torres, 
Pilotos  de  S.  A.  los  J  de  sus  salaries. 

[Cuonta  de  Dr.  Sanclio  de  Matrenzo,  Tesorcro  de  la  Casa  de 
Sevilla,  515—19.  Munoz  M.S.] 


XVIII. 

Narrntive  of  Peter  Mart }ir   of  Anr/Iiiern,  of  Sehaatinn   Cabot's 
voyages  to  the  North. 

Scrutatus  est  eas  glaciales  oras  Sebastianus  quidam  Ca- 
botus  genere  Venetus,  sed  a  parontibus  in  Britanniam  in- 
sulam  tendentibus  (uti  moris  est   Venetorum,  qui  commercii 


APPENDIX  NO.  Ifi. 


335 


inn   Cabot's 


oiiusa  torrarum  omnium  sunt,  hospitos)  trnnsportntus  pono 
infans.  Duo  is  sibi  navigia  propria  pocuniu  in  liritniiniti 
ipsa  instruxit,  et  primo  tendons  cum  hoininibus  terccntum 
tul  septentrionem,  donee  etium  Julio  nionso  vastus  rcpcrcrit 
jfjaciales  molos  pelago  natantes,  et  lucom  fere  porpetuain, 
tcllure  tamen  libera  gelu  liqucfaeto.  (^uaro  coactus  fuit, 
lit  ait.  vela  vertere  et  oceidentom  sequi  :  totenditquo  tameu 
ad  meridiem,  littoro  seso  incurvante,  et  Ilenailei  fret  us 
liititudinia  fere  gradus  aequarit :  ad  occidcntenupu!  profoctus 
tantum  est,  ut  Cubam  insulain  a  leva  longitudiiie  gnuluum 
pone  parem  habuerit.  Is  ea  littora  percurrens,  quae  Butal- 
laos  appellavit,  eosdem  se  reperisse  aquaruin,  sod  lones, 
(lolapsus  ad  occidentem,  ait,  quas  Castollani,  ineridionules 

suas  regiones   adnavigantes,   inveniuiit J3acalla()S 

(!abottus  ipse  terras  illas  appellavit  eo  quod  ineoruin  pelago 
tantam  repererit  magnorum  quorumdam  piscium,  tiniios 
aomulantium  ;  sic  vocatorum  ab  indigenis,  multitudincm, 
nt  etiam  illi  navigia  interdum  retardarent.  Earum  regionuin 
homines  pellibus  tantum  coopertos  reperiebat,  rationis  liaud- 
(liiuquam  exspertes.  Ursorum  inesse  rcgionibus  co[)iain 
ingentem  refert,  qui  et  ipsi  piscibus  voscantur.  Inter  donsa 
iiamque  piscium  illorum  agmina  sese  immergunt  ursi,  et 
singulos  singuli  complexes,  unguibusque  inter  squamas  iin- 
inissis  in  terram  raptant  et  comedunt.  Propterea  mininie 
noxios  hominibus  ursos  esse  ait.  Oricalcum  in  plorisquo  locis 
so  vidisse  apud  incolas  pracdicat.  Familiarem  babeo  domi 
(!abotura  ipsum  et  contubernalem  interdum.  Vocatus  nam- 
<[ue  ex  Britannia  a rege  nostro  Catholico  post  Henrici  niajoiis 
Ikitanniae  regis  mortem,  concurialis  noster  est  :  expectaique 
in  dies  ut  navigia  sibi  parentur,  quibus  arcanum  boc  naturae 
latens  iam  tandem  detegatur.*  Martio  mcnsc  anni  futuri 
MDXVI  puto  ad  explorandum  discessurum.  Quae  succcdent 
tua  Sanctitasf  per  me  intelliget  modo  vivere  detur.    Ex  Cas- 


*ArcaDum  hoc  naturae  latens.ihat  is,  the  strong  current  of  the  waters  "f  the 
sta  towards  the  west,  as  the  writer  cli'arlv  expressed  it  just  lM!ft)rc.  and  not 
the  passage  to  the  north-west,  as  Tiral)oschi  understamis  it. — Pliicido  Ziirla, 
Di  Marco  Polo,  cap.  ii,  p.  180. 

t  Tua  Sanctitas,  that  is,  the  supreme  Pontiff  of  Rome,  to  whom  Peter 
l^Iiirtyr  dedicated  his  Decades. 


1-  i.' ,  )l J>""'»"I'P 


Nvf 


1 J  *  f  ;« 


336 


APPENDIX  NO.  19. 


tollanis  non  desunt  qui  Cabotum  primum  fuisse  Baccalorut)\ 
repertorem  negant,  tantumque  ad  Occidentem  tetendis,se 
ininirae  assentiuntur. 

Petri  Marty ris  ab  Angleria,  De  Refms  Occanids  et  Orhe  mm. 
Dec.  iii,  lib.  vi.  For  the  first  three  decades  I  have  before  mo 
the  edition  of  Giovanni  Bebelio,  Basel,  1533. — For  tiie 
remainder,  the  edition  of  Paris,  1587. 


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XIX. 

Narrative  of  the  anonymous  author  in  Ramusio. 

Mi  par  convenevole  di  non  lassare  per  modo  alcuno,  clic  io 
non  racconti  un  grade,  et  amrairabile  ragionamento,  clie  io 
udi  quest]  mesi  passati  insieme  colJ'  excellente  Arcliitetto  M. 
Micliele  da  S.  Michele,  nell'  anieno  et  dilcttevole  kiogo  dcH' 
eccellente  Messer  Hicronimo  Fracastoro  detto  Caphi,   posto 

nel  Veronese Tl  qual  ragionamento  non  mi  basta  raniiiio 

di  poter  scrivero  cosi  particolarmentc  com'  io  udi,  pcrchc  vi 
Sana  di  bisogno  altro  ingegno,  et  altva  memoria  clie  non  e  la 
mia,  pur  mi  sforzero  sommrriamonte,  et  come  per  capi  di 
recitar  quel  che  mi  potro  ricordnic^.  In  (|uesto]uogodi  Caphi 
adunque  essendo  ■  iati  a  visitur  detto  eccellente  messer 
Hicronimo,  Io  trovammo  accompagnato  con  un  geiitil' 
huomo,  grandissimo  philosopho  et  mathematico,  che  allhora 
gli  mostrava  uno  instrumento  fatto  sopra  un  moto  de  cioli, 
trovato  di  nuovo,  il  nome  del  quale  per  suoi  rispetti  non  si 
dice,  et  avendo  tra  loro  disputato  lungamente  sopra  questo 
stesso  nuovo  moto,  per  ricrearsi  alquato  I'animo  fecero  portare 
una  balla  grande  molto  particolare  di  tutto  il  mondo,  sopni 
la  quale  questo  gentil'  huomo  comincio  a  parlare  dicendo. . . . 

Non  sapete  a  questo  proposito  d'  findare  a  trovar  1'  Indio 
pel  vento  di  maestro,  quel  che  fece  gi^  un  vostro  cittadino 
Vonetiano,  ch'  e  cosi  valente  et  practico  delle  cose  portinonti 
alia  navigazione  et  alia  cosmographia,  ch'in  Spagna  al  i)io- 
sen te  non  v'  e  un  suo  pari,  et  la  sua  virtu  1'  ha  fatto  preporrc 


HM 


APPENDIX  NO.  19. 


337 


atutti  li  pilotti  che  navigano  alle  Indie  occidentali,  che  senza 
sua  licentia  non  possono  far  quell'  essercitio,  et  per  questo  lo 
cliiainano  Pilotto  maggiore,  et  rispondendo  noi.  che  non  lo 
Hiipevanio,  eontinuo,  dicendo,  che  ritrovandosi  gi^  alcuni  aniii 
iicUa  citU  di  Si  villa,  et  desiderando  di  saper  qlle  navigationi 
(le  Castigliani,  gli  fu  detto,  che  v'  era  un  gra  valent'  liuonio 
Venetiano  che  havea  '1  carico  di  quelle,  nominato  '1  Signor 
Sebastiano  Caboto,  il  qual  sapeva  far  carte  marine  di  sua 
mano,  et  intendeva  1'  arte  del  navigare  piu  ch'  alcun  altro.  Su- 
hito  volsi  essere  col  detto,  et  lo  trovai  una  gentilissima  persona 
et  cortese,  chi  mi  fece  gran  carezze,  et  niostrommi  molte  cose, 
et  fra  1'  altre  un  Mapamondo  grande  colle  navigationi  parti- 
cohiri  si  di  Portoghesi,  come  di  Castigliani,  et  mi  disse  che  sen- 
dosi  partito  suo  padre  da  Venetia  gia  molti  anni,  et  andatoa 
stare  i  Inghilterra  a  far  mercantie  lo  menu  seco  nella  citta  di 
Londra,  ch'  egli  era  assai  giovane,  non  gi^  per';  che  non  avesso 
in)})urato  et  lettere  d'  humanit^l  et  la  sphera.  Mori  il  padre 
in  quel  tempo  che  venne  nova  che  '1  signor  Don  Christoforo  Co- 
lombo Genovese  havea  scoperta  la  costa  dell'  Jndio,  o  se  no 
parlava  grandemente  per  tutta  la  corte  del  Re  Henrico  VII, 
che  allhoraregnava,  dicendosi  che  era  stata  cosa  piuttosto  di- 
vina  che  humana  1'  haver  trovata  quella  via  mai  piu  saputa 
d'  andare  in  Oriente,  dove  nascono  le  Spetie.  Per  il  die  mi 
nacque  un  desidario  grande,  anzi  un  ardor  nel  core  di  voler 
fare  anchora  io  qualche  cosa  segnalata,  et  sapendo  per  ra- 
gion  della  sphera,  che  s'  io  navigassi  per  via  del  vento  di  maes- 
tro, haverei  ininor  cammino  a  trovar  1'  Indie,  subito  feci  in- 
tendere  questo  mio  pensiero  alia  Macst^  del  Re,  il  quale  fu 
molto  contento,  et  mi  armd  due  caravelle  di  tutto  cio  che  era 
di  bisogno,  etfu  del  149G*  jl  principio  della  State,  et  comin- 
ciai  a  navigare  verso  maestro,  pensando  di  non  trovar  terra 
se  non  quella  dov'  e  il  Cataio,  et  di  la  poi  voltare  verso  le  In- 
die ;  raa  in  capo  di  alquanti  giorni  la  discopersi  die  correva 
verso  tramontana,  che  mi  fu  d'  infinito  dispiacere,  e  pur  an- 


*Tlie  first  edition  of  1550,  also  at  Venice,  by  the  heirs  of  Lucantonio  Giunti, 
'mi  Hrm6  due  carovelle  di  tutto  cift  chp  em  dj  bjsopno,  et  fu,  salw  il 

92 


tero,  del  1496."  p,  402 


I 


m 


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338 


APPENDIX   NO.  ^^- 


f. 


dando  dietro  la  costa  per  vedere  se  io  poteva  trovare  qualche 
golfo  che  voltasse,  non  vi  fu  mai  ordine,  che  andato  sino  a 
j2;radi  cinquantasei  sotto  il  nostro  polo,  vedendo  che  quivi  la 
costa  voltava  verso  levante,  disperato  di  trovarlo,  me  ne  toniai 
a  dietro  a  ricoiioscere  ancora  la  detta  costa  dalla  parte  verso  1' 
equinoziale  sempre  con  intenzione  di  trovar  passaggio  alle 
Indie,  e  venni  sino  a  quella  che  chiamano  al  presente  la  Flo- 
rida, et  mancandomi  gi^  la  vettovaglia,  presi  partito  di  ritor- 
narmene  in  Inghilterra,  dove  giunto  trovai  grandissimi  tu- 
multi  di  popoli  sollevati  et  della  guerra  in  Scotia  :  ne  piii  era  in 
consideratione  alcuna  il  navigare  in  queste  parti,  peril  che  me 
ne  venni  in  Spagna  al  Re  Catholico,  et  alia  Regina  Isabella,  i 
quali  avendo  inteso  cio  che  io  aveva  fatto,  mi  raccolsero,  et  mi 
diedero  buona  provisione,  facendomi  navigar  dietro  la  costa 
del  Brasil,  pei  volerla  scoprire,  sopra  la  qual  trovato  un  gros- 
sissimo  et  larghissimo  fiume,  detto  al  presente  della  Plata,  Io 
volsi  navigare,  et  andai  all'  insu  per  quello  piu  di  secento  lejijlie 
trovandolo  sempre  bellissimo  et  habitato  da  infiniti  popoli,  die 
per  raaraviglia  correvano  a  vedermi,  et  in  quello  sboccavano 
tanti  fiumi  che  non  si  potria  credere.  Feci  poi  molte  altre  navi- 
gationi,  le  quali  preterm  et  to,  et  trovandomi  alia  fine  vecchio 
volsi  ripo.sare  essendosi  allevati  tanti  pratichi,  et  valenti  ina- 
rinari  giovani,  etliora  me  ne  sto  con  questo  carico  che  vol  sa- 
pete,  godendo  il  frutto  delle  mie  fatiche.  Questo  e  quanto  io 
intesi  dal  signor  Sebastianc  Caboto.  Ramusio,  Belle  Navi- 
gazioni  et  Viaggi,  Pri mo  Volume,  Ediz.  seconda.  Giunti,  1554. 
p.  414—415. 


XX. 

Ti-ansfer  of  Sebastian  Cabot's  pension  in  favor  of  his  wife. 

Cedula  de  Toledo  25  Octobre.  Por  quanto  Caboto  ha 
renunciado  en  Catalina  Medrano  su  muger  los  25,000  de 
su  ayuda  de  costa,  suplicando  que  como  el  los  tenia  por 
su  vida,  los  goce  ella  por  la  suya  della  :  por  que  si  Dio,« 
fnese   servido  quel    muriese   en    el  viaje    e    armada  que 


APPENDIX  NO.  21. 


330 


agora  hace   por  nuestro  mandado  i  en  nuestro  servicio  al 
descubrimiento  de  las  islas  do  Tarsise  Ofire  al  Catayo  Orien- 
tal, tenga  su  muger  eso  para  mantenerse.     Asi  se  manda. 
{Munoz  MS  ;  Irdias,  1524—1526,  77.  Est.  23,  gr.  fol.  165). 


mmmmmm 


XXI. 


Extract  from   the   history  of  Francisco  Lopez  de    Gomara  on 
Sebastian  Cabot's  Voyage  to  the  North-  West. 


(lui  en  mas  noticia  traxo  desta  tierra  fue  Sebastian  Gaboto 
Veiieciano.  El  qual  iiriiio  dos  navios  en  tnglaterra  do 
tratava  desde  pequeno,  a  costa  dtl  Rey  Enrique  Septimo,  que 
(lesseava  contratar  en  la  especiera  como  hazia  el  rey  de 
Portugal.  Otros  diseii  que  a  su  costa,  y  que  prometio 
al  rey  Enrique  de  ir  por  el  norte  al  Catayo  y  traer 
(Ic  alia  especias  en  nienos  tienipo  que  Portugueses  por 
el  ,sur.  Yva  tanibien  por  saber  que  tierra  eran  las  Indias  pa- 
ra poblar.  Llevo  trecientos  honibres  y  camino  la  buolta 
do  Islandia  sobre  cabo  del  Labrador,  basta  se  poner  en 
oinquenta  y  oclio  grades.  Aunque  ol  dize  mucho  mas  oon- 
tando  como  avia  por  el  mes  de  julin  tanto  frio  y  peda^os 
do  yelo  que  no  oso  passar  mas  adelante,  y  que  los  dias  eran 
graudissimos  y  quasi  sit  nocbe  y  las  noches  muy  claras.  Es 
ciei'te  que  .i,  sesenta  grados  son  los  dias  de  diez  y  ocbo  horns. 
I)iei\do  put  Gabota  la  frialdad  y  eslraneza  de  la  tierra,  dio 
la  huelta  ha/  i  ponieute  y  rehaziendose  en  los  Baccalaos  cor- 
rio  la  costa  L  statreynta  y  ochos  grados  y  tornose  de  alii 
a  Ingiaterra. 

Historia  General  de  las  Indias,  ^'aragoja.  1552.  Part  I,  cap. 
De  los  Bacallaos. 


tn  wt — 


340 


APPENDIX  NO,  23. 


.  XXII. 
Extract  /torn  the  Treatise  oj  Antonio  Galvdo  on  the  same  Voyagr, 

No  anno  de  1496  acliandosc  hum  Venezeano  por  nomo 
Sebastiano  Gaboto  cm  Inglaterra,  et  ouvindo  nova  do  tain 
novo  descubrimento  como  este  era:  et  vendo  em  huma  poma 
como  estas  jlhas  acima  ditas  estano  quasi  cm  bum  parallclo  et 
altura  et  muyto  mais  pcrto  de  sua  terra  buma  a  outra  que  de 
Portugal  nem  Castella,  o  amostron  a  el  Rey  doni  Annricpie  o 
scptimo  de  que  elle  fieou  tam  satisfeito  que  mandou  logo 
armar  dous  navios,  partio  na  primavera  com  trezentos  coin- 
pan  hciros,  fez  seucaminJio  a  Loeste  a  vista  do  terra,  et  quar- 
enta  et  cinco  graos  d'altura  da  parte  donorte,  forano  por  elk  ate 
sesscnta  onde  os  diara  sam  de  dezoyto  boras,  et  as  noytcs  niuy 
claras  et  sercnas.  Avia  aqui  muytti  frialdade  et  illias  do 
neve  (jue  nao  achavam  grandcs  regelos,  do  que  tambcin  sc 
arreceavain.  E  como  daqui  por  dianta  tornasse  a  costa  ao 
levante,  fizeramose  na  outra  volta  ao  longo  descobrindo  toda 
a  baya,  rio,  cnseada,  p'ra  ver  se  passava  da  outra  banda,  et 
fori;m  assi  diminuindo  n'  altura  ate  trinta  et  oyto  graos,  doiule 
se  tornaram  a  Inglaterra.  Outros  querem  dized  que  cbegassea 
ponta  da  Florida  que  esta  em  vinte  cinco  graos. 

Tratado  que  compos  o  nohre  e  notavel  capitano  Antonio  Gahno 

Lisboa,  Joham  de  Barriera,  1563. 


V^ 


,  AS 


XXIIL 

Extract  from  Sir  Humphrei/  Gilbert's  Discourse. 

Fortbermore,  Sebastian  (!abota  by  bis  personallexperi<>ncc 
and  travell,  liath  set  foorth,  and  described  this  passage  in 
his  Charts  whiche  are  yet  to  be  scene,  in  the  Quccnes 
Maiesties  privio  Gallorie,  at  Wbiteall,  who  was  sent  to  niako 
this  discoverie  by  King  Henrie  the  seaventh,  and  entered  tliy 


^mmmmm 


AI'l'KNDIX  NO.  24. 


341 


ie  yoijar/f. 

por  noinc 
a  de  tain 
ima  pom  a 
aralleln  ot 
ra  que  de 
.nnrif|ue  o 
idou   !()>;() 
jntos  com- 
a,  et  quar- 
por  ella  ate 
oytcs  nuiy 
j   ilhas  do 
tambcm  sc 
a  costa  ao 
rindo  toda 
I  l)auda,  et 
'aos,  donde 
clicgassea 

'do  Gali'fio 


i 


same  fret  :  affirming,  that  lie  sailed  very  far  westward,  with 
a  cjaai'ter  of  the  North,  on  the  north  side  of  Terra  de  Labrador 
the  eleventh  of  lune,  until  he  came  to  the  septentrional  lati- 
tude of  67  J  degrees  and  finding  the  seas  still  open,  said,  that 
he  might,  and  would  have  gone  to  Cataia,  if  the  mutinie  of 
the  Maister  and  Mariners  had  not  ben. 

(yl  discourse  of  a  Discovcrie  for  a  new  Passage  to  Cataia,  Lon- 
don, 1576,  in-4,  sign.  Diii). 


XXIV. 

Extract  from  the  Works  of  Andre  Thevet. 

Depuis  un  Venitien  entreprint  ce  voiage  sur  1'  authorite  d' 
Henry  septiesme  de  ce  nom  Roy  d'  Angleterre,  lequel  passa 
iusque  a  soixante  sept  degres. 

From  the  gran  Insulaire  et  Pilotage  d'  Andre  Thevct  Angoa- 
moisin  Cosmographe  dii  Roy.,  ms.  in  the  National  Library  at 
Paris,  French  portion.  N.  15.  452,  t.  I,  f.  143. 

Elle  fut  decouverte  primierement  par  Sebastian  Babate  (sic) 
Auglois  lequel  persuada  au  Roy  d'Angleterre  Henry  sep- 
tiesme qu'il  iroit  aisement  par  la  au  pais  de  Catay  vers  le 
Nort  et  par  ce  raoyen  trouveroit  espiceries  et  autres  choses 
aussi  bien  que  le  Roy  de  Portugal  aux  Indes,  joint  qu'il  se 
pi'oposoit  aller  au  Peru  et  Amerique  pour  peuplor  le  pais  de 
nouveaus  habitanset  dresser  la  une  Nouvelle  Angleterre,ce  que 
n'  executa  ;  vray  est  qu'il  mist  bien  trois  cens  hommes  en  iwvv. 
du  coste  d'Irlondo  au  Nort  ou  le  froid  fisi  mouiir  pH'Kt|Uo 
toute  sa  compagnie  encore  que  ee  fust  au  moys  de  Juillet. 
])ei)uis  Jaques  Quartier  [ainsi  que  lay  mesrae  m'a  recite]  fist 
deux  fois  le  voyage  en  ce  pays  la,  e'est  h  savoir  I'an  mil  cinq 
cens  trente  quatre  et  mil  cinq  cens  trente  cinq. 

Singidaritcz  de  la  France  Antarctique.  Paris,  1558,  in-4,  cap. 
LXxiv,  f.  148. 


i--' 


.:<■  't! 


342 


APPENDIX  NO.  25. 


'It<^  M 


■•i-t 


f 


I 


;: 


] 


XXV. 

Lette7'  of  the  Council  of  Ten  to  Gmpar  Coniarini,  Vemetian  Amhan- 
sador  to  Spain,  27  September,  1522. 

Oratori  nostra  apud  Caesaream  et  Cattolicam  Maiestaiem. 

Zonze  I'altro  giorno  de  qui  uno  Don  hierolamo  di  Mniii. 
de  Bucigiiolo  Rhaguseo,  quale  venuto  alia  presentia  d  Hi 
Capi  delConsiglionostro  di  Died  Disse  esser  sta  mandate  pir 
uno  Sebastian  Cabotto,  che  dice  esser  di  questa  cittA  nostra,  et 
al  presente  habita  in  Sybilia,  dove  par  habbi  provvision 
da  quella  Cesarea  et  Cattolica  Maest^  per  suo  pedota  mnjor 
in  le  navigation  del  discoprir  terre  nove.  Et  per  nome  di 
quello  referi  quanto  per  la  inserta  deposition  sua  vedc- 
rete,  dalla  quale  ancorche  ne  appari  non  poter  prestare  molta 
fede,  pure  per  esser  de  la  importantia  le  non  havremmo 
dovuto  refiutare  la  oblation  ne  fa  epso  Sebastian  de  poter  venir 
de  qui  alia  presentia  nostra,  per  dichiarirne  quanto  li  va  per 
mente  in  la  materia  propostane.  Unde  siamo  sta  contenti  cIh; 
el  ditto  Hierolamo  li  reserivi  nel  modo  che  per  le  sucincluso 
vederete  ;  volemo  adunque  et  noi  detti  capi  del  Consiglio  iios- 
tro  dei  Dieci  ne  commettemo,  che  cun  ogni  diligcnte  ma 
cauta  forma,  provriasi  di  intender  se  il  predetto  Sabastiaii 
fusse  in  quella  corte  aut  per  venirli  de  breve,  nel  qual  caso 
faciano  venirlo  ad  voi,  et  consignarli  dette  lettere  a  !ui 
dirrective,  le  quali  per  ogni  bon  rispecto  haveriamo  fatto 
allegar  ad  altre  indriciate  al  fidelissimo  servitor  vostro, 
che  pur  staranno  in  le  presenti.  Ne  in  lui  diraonstrarete  sajjcr 
alcuna  cosa  di  tal  materia,  nisi  in  caso  che  el  se  scoprisse  cun 
voi,  nel  qual,  siamo  ben  contenti  li  dichiariate  el  tuto, 
cun  veder  de  sottrazer  quel  piu  potersi  del  sentimento  suo,  et 
quando  vedesse  el  si  movesse  cun  bon  fondamento,  et  seiipi- 
bile,  lo  conforterete  ad  venir  di  qui,  perche  non  solum  siamo 
volenti  ch'  el  venga  sicuramente,  ma  lo  vederemo  molto 
volentieri.  Quando  autem  el  non  fusse  di  li  in  corte,  et  nunc 
per  venirle,  ma  si  ritrovasse  in  Sybilia,  darete  ogni  opera 
di  mandarli  tutte  lettere  per  via  chesiate  sicuro  le  gel  capitino 


APPENDIX  NO.  26. 


343 


in  mano  propria.  Demostrando  a  quello  per  cui  le  maudaste, 
the  vi  siano  sta  inviate  da  alcun  vostro  particolar  de  qui, 
pt  di  ogni  sucesso  ne  darete  adviso  ad  detti  Capi  del  Con- 
sij^lio  nostro  di  Dieci.  Demuiii  havendo  nui  ricevuto  nova- 
inciite  lettere  dal  capitano  general  de  5  dell'  instante  di 
('andia  cun  advisi  de  le  cose  da  Rhodi,  vi  mandiamo  juxta  11 
solito  li  suramarij,  accio  li  comunichiate  de  more  a  quelia  Ce- 
sarea  et  Cattolica  Maest^  Magnifico  Gran  Cancellier,Reverendo 
Episcopo  de  Valenza,  et  altri  che  vi  apparerano. 

(  Lecta  universe  Collegio). 

luliano  Gradonico  C.  C  + 

Andreus  Mudesco  C.  C.  + 

Dominicus  Capelo  C.  C.  4« 

Le  ultime  che  habbiamo  da  voi  sono  di  14  del  presente  alle 
qual  non  dovretefar  alcuna  rispoda* 
(Capi  del  Consiglio  dei  X.  Lettere  Sottoscritte,  Filza  N.  5, 1522), 


XXVI. 

Letter  of  Gaspar  Contmim,  to  the  Senate  of  Venice,  31  December, 
1522.  {Lettere  al  Senato  1521-1525.  It.  CI.  VII,  Cod.  MIX  della 
Biblioteca  MardoMa  di  Venezia. —  Carte  281-283.) 

Serenissime  Princeps  et  Excellentissimi  Domini. 

La  terza  vigilia  di  natale  cum  la  debita  riverentia  mia  ricevi 
le  lettere  di  Vostra  Serenity  date  fino  adi  27  septembrio  per  le 
quali  quelia  mi  significa  la  expositione  fatali  da  Hieronimo 
Ragusei  per  nome  di  Sebastian  Caboto  et  commettemi  che 
essendo  qui  a  la  Corte  io  li  debba  apresentar  quelia  lettera  et 
facendomi  lui  moto  alcuno,  che  io  li  debba  aprir  il  tuto 
et  parendo  le  cose  proposte  da  lui  factibile  che  io  Io  exhorti  a 
venir  a  li  piedi  di  Vostra  Serenity.  Hor  per  dar  executione  a 

*  Rawdon  Brown's  English  translation  has   "to  which  you  will  perhaps 
receive  no  farther  reply." 


>  ' 


ii"^ 


m 


<  I 
.'li 


I'l 


i 


■   ■ 

:  •  1! 

!   ?     ■ 

'5    t 


i:T 


I 


If 


f. 

•i 

fe^ 

TI 

?' 

h» 

; 

344 


APPENniX  NO.  26. 


prefjite  lettere,  feci  dextramente  intender  so  costui  era  a 
la  Corte  et  inteso  chel  era  qui,  et  la  stantia  sua,  li  mandai  a 
dir  che  el  secretario  mio  li  havova  da  dar  una  lettcra  in- 
viatale  da  un  suo  amico  et  che  volcndo  el  se  transforissc  alio 
allogiamonto  mio. 

•  Costui  inteso  questo  rispose  a  quel  servitor  mio  che  el  vo- 
niria  et  cussi  la  vigilia  di  Natale  venne  al  hora  do  disnar.  To 
ritiratomi  con  lui,  li  detti  la  lettera,  lui  la  lesse  et  Icgicndola 
si  mosse  tutto  di  colore.  Da  poij  letta,  stete  cussi  un  pochoto 
senza  dirmi  altro  quasi  sbigotito  et  dubio.  Alhora  io  li  dissi 
quando  che  el  volesse  risponder  a  dicte  lettere  over  farinc 
intender  qualche  cosa  che  el  volesse  che  io  scrivesse  a  chi  me 
r  havea  inviata  che  io  era  prompto  a  farli  aver  bon  recapito. 
Lui  assecurato  alhora  me  disse.  Io  gi^  parlai  a  Io  ambassator 
della  Illustrissima  Signoria  in  Ingelterra  *  per  la  aff'ectioiic 
che  io  ho  a  la  patria  cum  questo  terre  novamente  trovate  do 
le  quale  io  ho  modo  di  dar  gran  utile  a  quella  terra,  et  hora 
di  questo  mi  vien  scripto,  come  dovete  sapor  anchor  vuj,  ma 
vi  prego  quanto  posso  che  la  cosa  sij  secreta  perche  a  me  an- 
derebbe  la  vita.  Io  alhora  li  dissi  che  io  sapeva  il  tutto 
molto  bene  et  disseli  come  il  Raguseo  era  stato  al  Tribunal 
do  li  Exellentissimi  Signori  Capi  et  che  da  quel  Magistrato 
secretissimo  io  havea  habuto  adviso  del  tutto  et  che  per  lui 
mi  era  sta  inviata  quella  lettera,  ma  perche  havea  meco  a 
pranso  alcuni  gentilhuomini  che  non  era  coraodo  che  in  quel 
hora  parlassemo  insieme,  ma  la  sera  al  tardo  ritornando  piu 
comodamente  ad  longum  ragionassemo  insieme,  et  cussi 
partito,  la  sera  ritorno  circa  ad  un  hora  di  nocte,  et  rechiusi 
soli  in  la  mia  camera  me  disse  :  Signer  Ambassator  per 
dirve  il  tuto  io  naqui  a  Venetia  ma  sum  nudrito  in  Ingelterra 
et  poij  veni  al  servitio  di  questi  Re  Catholici  do  Hispania,  et 
dal  Re  Fcrdinando  fui  facto  Capitano  cum  provisione  di  50 
m.  maravedis,  poij  fui  facto  da  questo  Re  presente  piloto 
major  cum  provisione  di  altri  50  m.  maravedis,  et  per  adiuto 
di  cose  mi  da  poij  25  m.  maravedis,  che  sono  in  tutto  125  m. 


*  Rawdon  Browu  remarks  tliat  he  hiis  failed  to  find  any  trace  of  this 
conversation  of  Sebastian  Cabot  with  any  Venetian  Ambassador  in  England. 


mmm 


^m 


AlM'KNDlX  NO.  26. 


345 


maravedis,  possono  valcr  circa  duciiti  300.     Hor  ritrovandoini 
ja  tro  anni,  salvo  il  vero,  in  Ingclterra,  quel  Revercndissimo 
Ciirdinal  mi  volea  far  grandi  partiti  clie  ic  navigasse  cum  una 
sua  armada  per  discoprir  paesi  novi  la  quale  era  quasi  in 
ordino,  et  haveano  preparati  per  spender  inessa  ducati  30  m. 
lo  li  risposi  che  essendo  al  sorvitio  di  questa  Maestfl  senza 
sualicentianon  lo  potevaservire  ma  che  havendo  bona  licentia 
(li  qui  io  el  serviria.   In  quelli  giorni  ragionando  cum  uno 
frate  Stragliano  Collona  vencto  cum    il   quale  havea  ami- 
citia  grande,    mi  fu    dicto   dal    prefacto   frate :   Messer  Se- 
bastiano  vui  vi  affaticati  cussi  grandemente  per  far  beneficio  a 
genti  externe  non  vi  aricordate  dclla  vostra  terra,  non  scria 
possibile  che  etiam  lei  havesse  qualche  utility  da  vuj.  Allhora 
io  mi  risenti  tutto  nel  core  et  li  risposi  die  penseria  sopra  ciu. 
Et  cussi  ritornato  a  lui  il  giorno    seguente  li  dissi  che  io 
haveva  modo  di  far  quella    Cittd,   partecipe  di  questa  navj- 
gatione,  et  dimostrarli  via  per  la  quale  era  per  haver  grande 
utility,  come  e  il  vero  che  io  1'  ho  ritrovata  et  cussi  pcrche 
servendo  el  Re  d'  Angeltera  non  poteva  piu  beneficiar  la 
patria  mia,  io  scrissi  alia  Maest^  Cesarea  che  non  me  dcsse 
per  niente  licentia  che  servisse  il  Re  de  Engelterra  perche  11 
saria  de  ianno  grande,  iramo   che  subito  me  rivocasse,  et 
cussi  rivocato  et  ritornato  essendo  in  bibilla  contraxi  grande 
amicitia    cum    questo    Raguseo,    il    quale   hora    mi    scrive, 
dicendomi  lui  che  el  dovea  transferirse  a  Venetia,  mi  slargui 
cum  lui  et  li    commissi  che    questa   cosa   non   la   dovesse 
manifestare  ad   altri    che    ali  Capi  di  X.  et  cussi  mi  juro 
Sacramento.     Io   li    respusi    prima  laudando  grandemente 
r  afFecto  suo  verso  la  patria,  ])oij  li  dissi  cliel  Raguseo  era 
stato  a  li  Excellentissimi  Signori  Capi,  et  che  lo  da  quel 
Magistrato    havea    habuto    lettere    supra    questa    materia 
et  commissione  che  dovese  essere  cum    lui  et  intender  il 
modo  che  lui  se  havea  immaginato   et  significarlo   a  Sue 
Excellentissime   Signorie   et   che    poij    lui    potria    andarli 
in  persona.     Ma   rispose   che   lui  non    era   per   manifestar 
il  pensier   suo   ad   altri  che   a   li   Excellentissimi    Signori 
Capi,  et  chel  era  per  transferirse  a  Venetia,  richiesta  prima  li- 
centia da  Cesare  cum  questa  excusatione  di  la  ricuperatione  di 


i 


-I 


il 


1 

i. 

,1 


346 


APPENDIX  NO.  26. 


PI 


B"  Mi 


t  'f 


1-1 


',i'   r 


rf 


la  dote  (li  sua  madre,  di  la  qual  cosa  se  faria  che  lo  opiscopo 
di  Burgos  et  il  magnifico  Canccllier  me  parleriano  et  me  iiista- 
riano  che  io  scrivesse  in  favor  suo  a  la  ►Serenity  Vostra.  lo  li 
dissi  che  volcndo  venir  lui  a  Venetia  io  laudava  questo  iiiodo 
che  il  mi  diceva  di  chieder  licentia  etc.  Quanto  poij  cliol  nou 
mi  volesse  inanifestar  il  pensier  suo,  che  io  non  potevu  volcr 
pill  di  quel  che  lui  volea,  ma  che  ben  mi  pnreva  di  dirii  qucste 
parole  et  cussi  dissi  die  in  ogni  deliberatione  bit'ognava  coniii- 
derar  due  co!^(',  1'  una  era  se  quella  impresa  u  la  quale  1'  homo 
se  metteria  cum  utilita,  poij  sel  era  possibile,  et  che  questa  im- 
presa df^  la  qual  ragionavano  io  era  certo  che  riuscendo  V  havea 
esser  utile.  Ma  che  quanto  alia  possibility  io  era  molto  dubbio, 
perche  mi  havea  pur  dilectato  un  pocho  dogeographia,  etcon- 
siderando  il  sito  di  Venetia,  io  non  ritrovava  via  alcuna  a 
qucsta  navigatione  perche  el  bisognava  over  navigar  cum 
navilij  facti  a  Venetia  over  farli  far  for  di  stretto,  in  altro  loco  ; 
facendoli  a  Venetia  era  necessario  uscir  for  del  stretto  de 
Zibilterra  per  venire  nel  Oceano,  al  che  havendo  contrarij  il 
Re  di  Portogn^'  ot  il  Re  di  Spagna  era  impossibile  che  la 
cosa  riuscisse.  icendo  li  navilij  for  di  Venetia  non  st;  pote- 
vano  far  se  non  a  la  volta  del  mar  oceano  de  mezogiorno,  ne 
altro  loco  era  se  non  il  mar  rosso,  al  chene  erano  infiniti  con- 
trarij perche  prima  bisognava  haver  intelligentia  cum  el  sig. 
Turcho,  poij  li  per  la  penuria  de  li  legnami  era  impossibile  far 
navilij.  Poij  quando  ben  si  facesseno  essendo  le  fortezze  et 
armate  di  Portogallo,  non  era  possibile  continuar  quella  iiuvi- 
gatione.  Poij  chi  volea  fabricar  navili  qui  supra  1'  oceano  sep- 
tentrionale  discorendo  da  la  Spagna  a  la  Datia  et  poij  piu  in 
la  anchora,  io  non  li  vedeva  modo,  maxime  essendo  la  Ger- 
mania  a  la  obedientia  del  Imperatore.  La  via  poij  di  condure 
merce  da  Venetia  a  quelli  navilij,  et  da  li  navilij  le  spesie  et 
altre  cose  a  Venetia,  io  non  li  vedeva  via  alcuna,  tuta  volta 
perche  essendo  lui  valenthuomo  in  questa  materia,  io  mi 
riportava  a  lui.  Me  rispose  vuj  avete  ben  discorso,  et  in 
verity  ne  cum  navilij  facti  a  Venetia  ne  etiam  per  la  via  del 
Mar  rosso  io  non  vedo  modo  alcuno.  Ma  ce  altra  via  non 
solum  possibile  ma  facile  et  di  far  navilij  et  de  condur  merce  da 
Venetia  al  porto,  et  dal  porto  a  Venetia  spetie,  oro  et  altre  cose 


p^ 


episcopo 
me  iiipta- 
stra.   lo  li 
isto  inodo 
j  chel  non 
tevu  voler 
irli  quosto 
ava  f'oiisi- 
ile  I'hoiiH) 
questaim- 
do  1'  havea 
Ito  dubbio, 
Ilia,  etcou- 
I,  alcuna  a 
vigar  cum 
altro  loco  ; 
stretto  de 
coutrarij  il 
bile  che  la 
on  se  pote- 
jgiorno,  ne 
nfiniti  con- 
cuiu  el  sig. 
30ssibile  far 
fortezze  et 
uellaiiiivi- 
aceano  sep- 
poij  pill  ill 
x\o  la  Gei 
di  conduit' 
le  spesic  et 
,  tuta  volla 
teria,  io  mi 
;orso,  et  in 
la  via  dtl 
ra  via  non 
ur  merce  da 
?t  altre  cose 


APPENDIX  NO.  27. 


347 


che  io  so  perche  io  ho  navigato  tutti  riuclli  paesi  et  so  bon  il 
tu(o,  imnio  vi  dieo  cho  non  vulsi  tor  il  i)artido  de  11  Re  de 
Eiigelterra  per  beneficiar  la  patria,  perche  se  tolleva  quel 
piiitido  non  restava  poi  via  alcuna  per  Venetia.  Io  strinsi  le 
s|)!ille  et  benche  a  nie  la  cosa  pari  impossibile,  pur  non  volsl 
dissuadcrlo  chel  venis.se  a  li  piedi  di  Vostra  Celsitudine,  no 
iinclie  el  suasi  perche  la  po.ssibilit^  e  molto  piu  ampladoquel 
che  r  homo  spesse  liate  credo,  Costui  poij  qui  ha  grando  fania, 
et  cussi  alliora  se  parti.  II  giorno  poij  di  San  Zuane  la  sera 
vene  a  trovarni''  per  farricoiizar  alcuiie  parole  in  le  leteredel 
Raguseo,  delle  qual  dubitava  che  eostoro  non  prendesseno 
8Uspecto,  et  cussi  da  uno  nostro  Veronese  mio  intrinseco  fu 
rescripta  et  riforniata  la  lettera.  Lui  ragionando  cuin  me  de 
molto  cose  dl  geographia  fra  le  altre  me  disso  uno  modo  che 
riiavea  observato  per  la  via  del  bossolo  di  conosser  la  distantia 
iia  due  loclii  da  levante  al  ponente,  molto  bello  no  mai  piu 
ol)servato  da  altri,  come  da  lui  venendo  Vostra  Serenity  potr^ 
intender.  Poij  ragionando  pur  cum  lui  circa  la  materia  prin- 
cipal nostra  et  dextramento  ripetendoli  io  le  difficult^,  me 
disso  et  io  vi  dico  die  la  via  et  il  modo  e  facile.  Andero  a 
Wuietia  a  mie  spese,  me  udirano  ne  pinccndoli  el  modo  per 
me  excogitato,  io  mi  ritornero  pur  a  mie  spese,  et  fecemi  in- 
stantia  che  io  tenosse  la  co.sa  secreta.  Questa  e  stata  la  execu- 
tioiie  cho  io  ho  facto.  Vostra  Serenitd  la  udir^,  et  cum  la 
fiiipientia  sua  farh  quel  iuditio  che  li  parerA. 
V^allijoleti,  Die  ultimo  Decembris,  1522. 


XXVII. 


Another  letter    of   Gnspar  Omitarhil    to  the    Senate  of    Venice, 

7   March,  1523. 

(Carte  289  tergo.  Lettere  Contarini  citate). 

Sercnissime  Pripceps  et  ExceUentissimi  Domini. 

Quel  Sebastian  Cab  A  quale  vostre  Excellentie  me  impose 
a  parlarli  circa  le  cose  ^e  le  spiziarie  et  da  me  cussi  exeguito 
com,,  per  mio  di  x.  zener  li  significai,  e  stato  piu  volte  da  poij 


i 

I 

If 

ji 
Si' 

i 

1!' 
i; 

J. 

848 


Al'J'ENDIX  NO.  !J8. 


ad  me  somprc  fuccndomi  iiitondor  In  disposition  sun  cssor  di 
vcnir  cxci^uir  quiinlo  I'lmviiu  in  unimo  di  opornr  per  Vostni 
(.'el.siuidine  in  tul  nmttiiii  do  specie.  Tandem  liozi.venntd  ikI 
trovurini,  se  hn  risolto  non  poter  per  liora  dimundure  liccntiii 
duhitando  elie  non  lo  tolesseno  per  suspecto  eho  el  volesso  an- 
daro  in  Kn^elterra,  et  elie  pero  li  era  necessnrio  anchor  per  ire 
mesi  scorer,  qual  passati  al  tuto  era  per  venir  a  li  picdi 
di  Vostra  Illustrissima  Signoria,  pregandola  cho  interim  lu 
vo^li  scriver  una  lettera  in  la  forma  de  1'  nltrali  fu  mandata 
et  solicitarlo  a  venir  de  li  a  Venetia  per  expedir  lo  coso  sue  a 
eio  monstrandola,  de  qui  li  fusse  piu  liberamento  concesso  li- 
eentia.  Scrivo  a  Vostra  Celsitudine  quanto  die  lui  Sebastiaiio 
mi  ha  dichiarito  et  ricercato,  quella  dispouerA  quanto  li  pia- 

CGl'h. 

Vallijoleti  Die  7  Martij  1523. 


m'■^ 


w 


XXVIII. 

Letter  oj  the  Council  of  Ten  to  Gaspar  Contarini, 

(Brown  N.  060  Vol.  Ill) 

28  Aprile  1523. 
Set'  Casparo  Contareno 

Oratorl  nostro  apud  Cesarenm  Maiesiatem. 

Riceves.simo  in  questi  giorni  passati  le  vostre  direttive  a  li 
Capi  dol  Consiglio  no.stro  dei  Dieci,  de  ultimo  Dicembre  pros- 
simo  preterito,  per  le  quali  intendessemo  tutto  il  collo(|uio 
havuto  cum  Sebastiano  Cabotto  ne  la  materia  de  le  specie. 
nel  che  in  vero  cum  sum  ma  prudentia,  et  bon  modo  vi  setc 
governato,  et  non  potemo,  se  non  grandemente  commendarc 
il  studio  et  diligenza  vostra.  Dapoi  habiamo  riceputo  altro 
vostre  de  7  Marzo  preterito,  per  le  qual  vedemo  la  risolu- 
tione  in  ch'era  rimasto  esso  Sebastiano,  de  non  poter  venir 
qui  fino  a  tre  mesi  ;  et  che  poi  al  tuto  I'era  per  vinir,  rechie- 
dendo  chel  so  li  faci  de  qui  scriver  una  lettera  in  la  forma 


APPENDIX  NO.  30. 


34!) 


(lollo  prccedcnti  per  lecoso  sue,  nciocho  cum  quolla  al  tempo 
prodicto  possi  licitamentc  partirsi  do  li.  Undo  per  satisfaetione 
sua  hahiiimo  fatto  far  una  altra  lottera  in  nonio  di  qucllo 
Hieronymo  do  Mauio  da  Hha^usi,  che  (pii  vene  ad  fame  la 
relatione  di  tal  coso  ot  mandovela  (jui  inserta  nel  mazzo  del 
Circunspecto  Sccretario  vostro,  si  come  fu  facto  dolle  precc- 
(lenti,  la  (pial  consi^nnreie  al  dito  Cabotosemotis  arhitris,  sua- 
(li'udolo  cho  el  so  ne  ven^i  qui,  si  come  cl  vi  lui  promesso  de 
far,  porche  sempro  el  saril  ben  veduto  da  noi  :  et  cusi  esegui- 
reto  dandone  adviso  a  li  capi  antedicti,  et  se  al  zonzor  do 
(pieste  il  prefacto  C'abotto  non  se  retrovasse  de  li  in  Corte, 
nianderoteli  la  lottera  sua  dove  el  se  ritrovera.  Tutta  via  per 
mezo  fido  et  securo  si  che  la  go  cnpiti  in  mano  ;  denotandovi 
die  il  dito  Ilieronimo  Marino  al  presente  non  se  retrova 
(jui  in  ^''enezia,  ne  sapemo  dove  el  sii,  ancor  die  le  lettere  de 
csso  Ilieronimo  apparino  date  qui  in  V^enezia.  II  che  dicemo 
per  vostra  instructione. 

Andreas  Foscarenus  C.  0.  Xm 
Jacobus  Michael  C.  C.  Xm  subscrip. 
Andreas  Fosculus  C.  C.  Xm  subscrip. 
Lecta  Dominis  Sapiontibus  utriusque  manus  somotis  ce- 
teris et  etiam  Dominis  Consiliariis. 

Lecta  Dominis  Capitibus. 


XXIX. 


Feigned  letter  of  Jerome  the  Raguaan  to  Sebastian  Cabot. 

Litterae  scriptae  nomine  Hieronymi  di  Marino  Rhagusei  ad  Sebas- 
tianum  Caboto  in  Hispaniam  existentem. 

Spectabile  Messer  Sebastiano. — Za  alcuni  mesi  zonto  che  io 
fui  qui  in  Venetia  vi  scrissi  quanto  haveva  operate  per  in- 
quirir  dove  si  trovano  de  li  beni  vostri,  nel  che  io  hebbi  bone 
purolle  in  cadauno  loco,  et  mi  fu  dato  bona  speranza  de  re- 
cuperar  la  dote  di  vostra  madre,  et  ameda,  unde  non  dubito 


fr  ^"wv.-f 


■■™^^-TP'-T?v5f??^'WTPr^r 


350 


APPENDIX  NO.  30. 


che  si  vui  fosti  venuto  qui  haveresti  za  conseguito  quanto  e 
il  vostro  desiderio  ;  et  per  tanto  per  lo  amor  vi  porto,  (>t 
per  il  beneficio,  et  utile  ve  sio  exhortar  ad  non  vi  mancliaiii 
vui  niedesimo,  ma  transferirve  qui  a  Veuetia,  dove  non  dxi- 
bito  impetrarete  il  tutto,  et  non  tarderete  ad  venir  qui,  perclic 
la  ameda  vostra  e  molto  vecchia,  et  mancando  lei,  haveresti 
poi  grandissn}a  fatica  a  inquirir  et  recuperar  ii  vostro  ;  pcro 
ve  conforto  ad  mettervi  in  camino  piu  presto  potete.  Altro 
non  vi  dice  per  hora  a  vui  mi  offrc  per  sempre. 
Venetiis  Die  28  Aprilis  1523 

Vostro  hieronimo  de  Marino 
(Capi  del  Consiglio  de'  Dieci.  Letterc  .sottoscritte.  Filza  X. 
<J.  1523). 


XXX. 

Letter  of  Gaspar  Contarini  to  the  Senate  oj  Venice,  23  July,  1523. 

Sercnissim,  Prinoeps  et  excellentissimi  Domini. 

Gum  la  posta  venuta  de  Italia  per  qui,  come  in  le  comunc 
faoio  mentione  per  via  da  Roma,  ricevi  cum  la  solita  riveivii- 
tia  mialettere  sue  de  23  April  per  le  qual  Vostra  Serenitadim- 
dome  adviso  dil  ricever  de  le  mie  scripteli  circa  la  executionc 
facta  cum  Sebastiano  Caboto  etc. ,  me  subgionge  che  iteruiu  hi 
invia  altre  lettce  a  lui  Sebastiano  a  nome  di  quel  Hieronimo  Av 
Kagusi  iuxta  ia  richiesta  sua  et  cussi  ho  ritrovato  in  le  }»ul)- 
licbe  esse  lettere.  La  bona  sorto  volse,  che  essendo  lui  8i 
bastiano  in  SibiHi'  due  giorni  da  jjoii  il  ricevir  de  le  lelU n, 
ritorno  de  qui  al  qual  con.signato  le  sue  lo  exortai  a  venirstiv 
de  li.  Di.sseme  che  in  altro  non  era  il  pemsior  suo  et  a  quostn 
fine  era  venuto  de  qui.  Da  ]>oij  mi  ha  parlato  dicendoclul 
procura  cum  (luesti  del  (jonsigho  Cesareo  di  haver  licentia  ili 
conferirse  deli,  et  che  etiam  parlino  a  me  in  commendation' 
su!).  (^uesto  e  quanto  bo  da  hn',  de  quanto  seguird  Vofstra 
JSercnitanc  sara  advisata. 

Vallijoleti  Die  2()  Julij  1523. 
(Carto  302,  Lett.  Contarini  cit.) 


|iH 


APPENDIX  NO.  32. 


351 


quanto  e 
porto,  (>t 
ancliai-ii 
non  du- 
ll, porclit' 
havcrosti 


ro 


pcro 
Altro 


e  MariiKi 
Filza    X. 


My,  1525, 


comiinc 
riveiTii- 
cnitailidi- 
xecutionc 
tcruiu  la 
onini-')  <lt' 
:i  le  pul)- 
o  lui   Hi'- 
0  leltero, 
venir.stMv 
a  qnesto 
endot'hol 
contia  <li 
nulationc 
h,   Voatra 


XXXI. 

Payment  to  Sebastian  Cabot  for  the  account  of  Sir  Thomas  Lovell,  1 8 

February,  1524. 

Item  paide  the  XVIIP'  day  of  feb.  to  John  Goderik  of  Tory 
hi  the  countie  of  Cornewall  drap  in  full  satysfacon  and  ivcom- 
ponses  of  his  charge  costis  and  labour  conductyng  of  Sebastian 
( 'abott  master  of  the  Pylotes  in  Spay ne  to  London  at  the  re- 
quest of  the  testator  by  Indenture  of  covenantes. —   43s.    4d. 

[Expenses  of  the  funeral  of  si*-  Thos.  Lovell,   Knt.  of  the 
garter,  who  died  at  his  manor  oi  Elsynges,  in  Endtield,  Mid- 
dlesex,25  May  1524,  paid  by  his  executors.     I.  S.    Brewer. — 
Calendar  Domestic  and  Foreign,  Henry  VIII.  t.  IV,  Fart.  I, 
p.  154,  N.°  366. 


XXXII, 


Dispatches  of  Andrew  Navagero,  Ambassador  to  the  Court  ofSpnin 
of  July  21, 1524—28  October.  —  207.  Cod.  Cicogna  1985. 

Un  altra  arraata  di  28  vele  pur  per  1'  Indie  nia  in 

altra  parte  e  in  ordinc  in  Siviglia  et  partirA  si  come  dicoiio  fra 
15  o  20  di  della  qual  e  Capitano  un  Sebastian  Cabbotto  Vene- 
tiano,  costui  va  per  scoprir  cose  nove  et  ogni  giorno  di  qua 
fan  maggior  le  speranze  di  queste  Indie,  et  piu  li  mettono 
I'animo  et  credono  all'  ultimo  haver  anco  ile  speranze  per 
quellabanda  et  con  viaggio  moito  piu  breve  di  quel  che  fece 
la  nave  Vittoria. — Gratie  etc.  etc. 

In  Tolled©  alii   21  di  Settcmbrc    1525.— p.  221,  222. 

A  bit  of  narrative  at  p.  033  Cod.  Cicogna    1985. 

delle  nave  spagnole  ch'io  intesi  in  Franza  ch'erano  arri- 

vateall'  isole  di  Brasil  carghe  despeciarie  che  potrian  esser  di 
quelle  che  partirou  di  Siviglia  con  Sebastian  Cabotto  Vene- 
tiano. 


mmmm 


352 


APPENDIX  NO.  33. 


XXXIII. 


Extract  from  the  Decades  of  Peter  Martyr  d'  Anghiera  on  the  pro- 
posed voyage  of  Sebastian  Oahot  to  the  East  Indies  on  Spaiii's  ac- 
count (1524). 

Speramus  fore  ut  Sebastianus  Cabotus  Baccalorum  repertor, 
cui  circiter  Kal.  Scptembris  supplicanti,  ex  nostri  Senatus 
aiietoritate  perraissa  est  ejus  navigalionis  perquirendao  potes- 
tas.  hreviore  tempore  ac  felicioribus  avibus  sit  rediturus,  quaiu 
Victoria  iiavis.  .  ,  .  Quatuor  iiavium  classiculara,  omnibus  ad 
i-eni  maritiiTiam  tacientibus  et  commodis  tormentoruai  vasis 
paratam,  ab  Caesareo  aerario  Cabotus  poposcit,  socios  ait  sc 
rc})erisse  Hispali,  quae  Sobilla  dicitur,  commerciorum  omnium 
Jndicorum  emporio,  qui  sub  spe  magni  lucri,  ad  classiculao 
commeatum  etcaetera  necessaria,  ducatorum  decern  miUiuni 
sua  sponte  summaiu  obtuleriiit.  Ad  oii'erendam  partici})um 
sociorum  obligationem  circiter  idus  Septembris  a  nobis  dim- 
issus  est  Cabotus.  .  . 

Est  Cabotus  Augusto  mouse  proximo  anni  MDXXV  disccs- 
surus,  nee  citius  quidem,  quia  nee  prius  queunt  ad  rem  tantan; 
necessaria  parari,  nee  per  coeloruiii  cursus  debet  prius  illud 
iter  inclioari  :  oportct  quippc  tunc  venais  aequinoctium  vela 
dirigere  quando  sol  aestatem  nobis  et  dierum  longitudineiii 
ablaturus,  adAntictones  penetrare  incipiat  ....  Quo  tempore 
brevissimi  sunt  apud  populos  Arctoos  dies,  longissiraos  Cabo- 
tus assequetur.  Corn  mode  propterea  littora  percurret  ilia 
donee  flexuoso  Magagliano  freto.  .  .  .  traiecto,  in  dextram  a 
tergo  nostri  putati  continentis. .  .  .prorasdiriget,  perque  Cajiri- 
corni  zonam  ad  aequatorem  regredietur,  in  quo  spacio  insu- 
iarum  numerumreperiet  innumerum,  sitarum  inea  pelagi  vas- 
iitato  :  benevole  namque  agendum  est,  ac  sine  vi  aut  injuria 
ulla  tractandum,  et  blanditiis  muneribusque  allieientur.  De- 
cern namque  ducatorum  mi  ilia  quae  Cabotus  a  soeiis  est  ba- 
biturus  ad  id  negocii  sunt  wxpendendaut  commeatus  ad  bioii- 
nium  comparentur,  et  stipondia  viris  centum  quinquagiuta 
praebeantur,  reliqua  pars  m  mercimoniis  quae  grata  insviluri- 


APPENDIX  NO.  34. 


353 


bus  fore  cognoverint ....  T'^'ih  pelustratis  et  prudenti  diligen- 
tia  pertractatis,  nostri  putati  continentis  latus  australe  uni- 
versum  abradent. 
Dec.  VII,  cap.  6,  p.  797— Parisiis,  MDLXXXVII. 


XXXIV. 


Abstract  of  the  Frobamja  of  Catharine  Vasquez  in  her  suit 
against  Sebastian  Cabot.* 

I  Interrogatory.  Whether  the  witnesses  know  the  parties 
concerned  in  the  suit. 

.A.nswer.  Yes. 

II  Int.  Whether  they  know  of  the  expedition  led  by  Sebas- 
tian Cabot. 

Any.  Yes. 

Here  follow  the  witnesses'  names  and  surnames  num- 
bered in  order.  Thereafter  they  are  spoken  of  by  their  num- 
bers :■•;  I^irst,  Second,  etc. 

III  Int.  Whether  Martin  Mendez  was  appoinced  Lieuten- 
ant-General  in  the  command  of  the  expedition. 

Ans.  Yes 

IV  Int.  Whether  they  know  that,  before  his  appointment,  Se- 
bastian Cabot,  at  his  wife's  suggestion,  had  determined  to  give 
that  position  to  Michael  Rojas. 

None  of  the  witnesses  can  answer. 

V  Int.  Whether  they  know  that,  upon  the  appointment  of 
Martin  Mendez,  (^abot,  his  wife,  and  Rifob  conceived  a  violent 
eiimity  towards  him;  whether  Medrano  tried  even  to  have 
him  killed  ;  whether  Cabot  was  ruled  by  the  advice  and  wishes 
of  his  wife. 

Ans.     The  i  witness  answers  the  three  questions  in  the  af- 


*  In  thi.s  and  the  following  al)8tracts,  scrupulous  attention  has  been  pnid  to 
lenderiog  tbe  sense  of  the  text  ati  exuctiy  us  possible. 

28 


;  h; 


iP'l 


:»■■: 


■/ 


<l 


'^'(PBI 


<!, 


354 


APPENDIX  NO.  34. 


!f,- 


p;i    i 


^■ 


firmative.  The  vi  affirmatively  to  the  first :  has  no  knowl- 
i(\ge  as  to  the  other  two. 

The  vii  affirmatively  to  the  first  on  tlie  credit  of  otlieih, 
IS  silent  on  the  second  ;  the  third  is  true  in  his  opinion. 

The  ix  and  xi  are  of  the  affirmative  opinion  as  to  tho 
tliu'd,  silent  as  to  the  other  two. 

V!^^  Int.  Whether  Martin  Mendez,  just  as  the  expedition 
was  about  to  sail,  perceiving  Cabot's  ill-will  towards  liiin. 
took  his  tilings  and  left  the  ship  and  went  to  Seville  to  com- 
plain to  the  (Council  of  the  Indies. 

Ans.  The  i  witness  saw  Mendez  go  away,  and  heard  that 
ho  went  to  complain  to  the  Council  of  the  Indies,  and  tluit  the 
Council  encouraged  him  to  return  to  his  post. 

The  ix  deposes  the  same. 

The  xi  saw  him  go,  but  does  not  know  why  he  went. 

VII  Int.  Whotlmr  tlio  Council  of  tho  Indies,  suramoninp: 
(Jabot  and  llifoH,  Kcvonily  reproved  them,  and  threatened  tlie 
latter  if  he  interfered  in  the  duties  belonging  to  the  Lieutcni- 
ant-Cteneral. 

Ans.    The  vi  and  ix  allirm  it,  but  on  the  report  of  others. 

VIII  Int.  Whether  Martin  Mendez  returned  to  emhark 
upon  the  urging  and  promises  of  the  President  of  the  Coun- 
cil. 

Ans.  The  vi  witness  believes  it  must  have  been  so,  because 
Mendez  had  been  at  the  Moluccas  before,  and  the  merchants 
had  manifested  their  confidence  in  him. 

The  ix  says  so  from  hearsay. 

IX  Int.  Whether  as  soon  as  Cabot  sailed  he  set  Meudoz 
wholly  aside,  and  entrusted  Rifos  with  all  that  belongerl 
to  the  Lieutenant. 

Ans.  The  five  witnesses  called  all  confirm  this  more  or  less 
fully. 

X  Int.  Whether  Sebastian  Cabot  arrested  Mendez  without 
just  cause. 

Ans.  The  i  and  xi  confirm  it  fully. 

The  iii  and  viii  know  of  tho  arrest,  but  cannot  say  whether 
there  wa.?  just  cause  for  it  or  not. 
The  vi  and  vii  know  of  the  arrest,  but  as  to  its  juntice  they 


■ 


APPENDIX  NO.  34. 


355 


confine  themselves  to  saying  that  they  saw  hira  do  nothing 
that  de.served  it. 

XI  Int.  Whether  Martin  Mondez,  when  arrested  insisted  on 
!i  trial  ;  whether  Cabot  made  any  reply  to  his  demand. 

Ans.  The  i  confirms  it  of  his  own  knowledge. 

The  ii  from  hearsay. 

Th(^  vi  confirms  it,  adding  on  hearsay  thr.t  Cabot  resented 
the  demand. 

Tlie  vii,  ix,  and  x  confirm  the  first  part  ;  are  silent  or 
know  notliing  of  the  second. 

XII  Int.  Wiietlier  Mendez  posted  his  demand  for  a  trial  on 
the  ship's  mast,  so  that  all  should  know  of  it. 

Ans.  Five  witnesses  were  called  and  all  answer  affirmatively. 

XIII  Int.  Whether  Captain  Caro  presented  Mendez's  de- 
mand to  Cabot,  and  Cabot  answered  with  bad  words. 

Ans.  The  i  has  heard  say  so. 

The   ii  knows  of  the  presenting,  but  not  of  the  answer. 
The  vi  knows  of  the  presenting,  it  seems  to  him  ;   but  does 
not  well  remember  the  fact  of  the  answer. 

XIV  Int.  Whether  Martin  Mendez  made  a  protest  before  the 
officers  both  of  his  demand  and  for  damages  arising  out  of  his 
arrest. 

The  i  and  vi  confirm  it  fully. 

TJie  ii  heard  the  protest  spoken  of,  but  knew  not  its  contents. 

The  ix  confirms  it  on  hearsay. 

The  X  does  not  remember,  but  it  seems  so  to  him. 

XV  Int.  Whether  the  officers  informed  Cabot  of  the  protest, 
and  he  replied  with  bad  words. 

Ans.  The  ii  confirms  the  first  part  on  hearsay  ;  varies  the 
s(>cond  saying  he  had  heard  that  Cabot  promised  a  trial  when 
they  came  to  the  River  De  Solis. 

The  vi  confirms  it  fully,  adding  that  he  and  other  officers 
tried  to  put  in  a  word  in  favor  of  Mendez. 

XVI  Int.  About  the  deposing  of  Mendez  and  Rojas  at  the 
Island  of  Saml  Catharine,  and  whether  the  island  is  only 
peopled  by  Indians. 

Ans.  The  vi  saw  the  prisoners  delivered  to  an  Indian,  and 
knows  no  more. 


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356 


APPENDIX  NO.  84. 


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The  ix  knows  by  what  others  saii  that  the  prisoners  were 
recommended  to  an  Indian. 

XVIII  Int.  Whether  it  is  true  that  Mendcz,  when  tliev 
were  taking  him  ashore,  protested  that  Cabot  deposed  liiiii  lor 
a  report  ho  was  preparing  against  him  for  the  Emperor  ;  and 
whether  he  was  deposed  in  order  that  Rifos  might  have  the 
post  of  Lieutenant. 

Ans.  The  i  confirms  Rifos's  appointment ;  that  is  all  he 
knows. 

The  ii  confirms  the  appointment  of  Rifos  ;  as  to  the  rest, 
says  he  had  heard  that  Mendez  complained  that  Cabot  had 
seized  a  letter  which  he  wrote  to  the  Emperor. 

The  X  confirms  it. 

XIX  Int.  Whether  at  the  Isle  of  Patos  Mendez  wrote  a  let- 
ter to  the  Emperor  against  Cabot,  and  it  was  seized. 

No  answer. 

XX  Int.  Whether  Mendez  had  often  warned  Cabot  that  he 
was  not  taking  the  course  for  the  Moluccas,  and  that  His  Ma- 
jesty would  take  oflFence. 

No  answer. 

XXI  Int.  Whether  on  their  return  many  urged  Cabot 
to  land  at  Saint  Catharine  to  take  the  prisoners  on  board,  and 
he  refused. 

No  answer. 

XXII  Int.  Whether  Mendez  and  Rodas  died  on  that 
island  in  consequence  of  their  abandonment. 

Ans.  The  i  answers  Yes,  because  they  were  drowned 
in  trying  to  escape  from  the  island,  and  they  would  not 
have   tried  to    escape   if  Cabot   had  not   left   them  there. 

The  other  witnesses,  the  vi,  vii,  viii,  ix,  x,  ana  xi  depose  to 
the  fact  of  the  death,  but  are  silent  on  the  rest. 

XXIII  Int.  On  the  value  of  the  things  belonging  to  Mar- 
tin Mendez  which  he  had  on  board,  and  whether  Cabot  took 
possession  of  every  thing. 

Ans.  The  vi,  vii,  viii,  and  x  know  of  the  things  brought 
on  board,  but  nothing  else. 

The  ix  knows  of  the  things  brought  on  board,  but  cannot 
tell  their  value  :  has  heard  tell  the  third  point. 


icrs  were 


Al'l'ENtilX'  NO.  :54. 


357 


The  X  and  xi  saw  that  there  were  many  things  brouglit  on 
board,  but  know  no  more. 

XXIV  Int.  Of  Martin  Mendez's  emolmnents. 

Ans.  The  answer  of  tlie  witnesses  is  given  in  general,  what 
they  have  heard. 

XXV  Int.  How  old  Mendez  was  when  set  ashore  on  the 
island. 

Ans.  All  the  witnesses  answer  giving  their  opinion  from 
his  looks. 

XXVI  Int.  Let  the  witnesses  declare  whether,  if  Mendez 
had  lived  and  kept  his  office  of  Lieutenant,  tiie  expedition 
would  have  continued  on  its  voyage,  and  not  have  lost  so 
many  men. 

Ans.  The  i,  vii,  and  ix  say  yes. 

The  vi  says  he  cannot,  because  there  were  other  officers  on 
the  expedition  with  as  much  authority,  and  they  were  unable 
to  prevent  what  happened. 

The  viii  can  only  say  they  would  have  done  much  better 
if  they  had  gone  to  the  Moluccas. 

XXVII  Int.  Two  sums  are  proposed,  and  the  witnesses 
aie  asked  if  they  believe  that  if  they  had  reached  the 
Moluccas  the  Emperor  would  have  gained  the  first  and  Mar- 
tin Mendez  the  second. 

Ans.  The  ii,  vii,  ix,  x,  and  xi  recognize  that  much  would 
liave  been  gained,  but  cannot  say  ho  w  much. 

The  vi  speaks  of  the  dangers  of  the  navigation,  that  the 
result  is  in  God's  hands.  But  granted  that  they  reached  the 
Moluccas,  the  Emperor  and  Mendez  would  have  gained  much. 

XXVIII  Int.  As  to  the  value  of  the  things  brought 
aboard  belonging  to  Martin' 15  brother  Ferdinand  Mendez,  and 
whether  Cabot  took  possession  of  all. 

Ans.  The  i  confirms  it. 

The  vi,  vii,  viii,  ix  and  xi  know  that  they  were  many,  but 
cannot  tell  their  value  ;  they  know  nothing  of  the  second  part. 

XXIX  Int.  Whether  Catharine  Vasquez  is  the  mother  of 
Martin  Mendez. 

Ans.  Yes. 

XXX  Int.  is  spoilt.      But  it  is  understood  to  ask  about  the 


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358 


APPENDIX  NO.  35. 


death  of  Ferdinand  Mendez,  Martin's  brother,  whether  it  was 
caused  by  his  brother's  imprisonment. 

Ans.  The  i  cannot  say  of  his  own  knowledge,  but  Ims 
lieard  it  spoken  of  as  something  certain. 

The  ix  knows  of  the  death,  but  not  the  cause  of  it. 

XXXI  Int.  Whether  Cabot  tried  to  poison  Ferdinand 
Mendez. 

No  answer. 

XXXII  Int.  On  the  same  subject,  whether  at  least  tlu; 
fleet  spoke  of  such  poisoning. 

No  answer. 


XXXV. 


II 


Intenogatories  presented  by  Francis  de  Rojas  at  Ocafla,  November 

2,  1530. 

I  Int.  Whether  the  witnesses  know  Captain  de  Rojas  am] 
Sebastian  Cabot  ;  and  know  of  the  expedition  wliidi 
sailed  under  command  of  the  latter  towards  the  Moluccas. 

II  Int.  Whether  they  know  that  Rojas  is  of  a  noble 
family  and  of  known  worth,  and  Cabot  is  a  foreigner,  an  un- 
known person,  unfit  for  the  command  of  a  fleet,  or  any  otlier 
office,  etc. 

III  Int.  Whether  those  who  fitted  out  the  fleet  discover- 
ing Cabot's  incompetency,  wanted  to  appoint  Rojas  to  tlic 
post  ofCaptainof  the  expedition,  and  that  this  was  thecauso 
of  Cabot's  hatred  of  him. 

IV  Int.  Whether  the  main  object  of  the  expedition  was  to 
reach  the  Islands  of  Ophir  and  Tarshish,  etc. 

V  Int.  Whether  when  Cabot  was  bound  to  give  the  course 
of  the  voyage  at  the  Canaries  according  to  the  Emperor's  or- 
ders, and  did  not  give  it,  Rojas  persistently  demanded  it,  and 
Cabot  refused,  adding  disrespectful  words  about  the  Emperor. 

^'^I  Int.  Whether  Cabot  at  the  Island  of  Palma  seized  the  let- 
ters of  many  who  were  writing  to  the  Emperor  against  him, 


APPENDIX  NO.  35. 


359 


and  did  the  same  again  at  Pornambuco  and  on  the  Parana, 
and  from  this  conceived  a  bitter  hatred  for  Rojas. 

VII  Int.  Whether  in  the  latitude  of  the  Capo  Verde  Islands 
lie  altered  his  course  a  quarter  to  the  north-west,  which  took 
hira  to  Cape  Saint  Augustine  in  the  Province  of  Pernainbuco  ; 
where  the  Portuguese,  who  were  there,  to  divert  him  from  tho 
voyage  to  the  Moluccas,  told  him  wonders  about  the  wealth 
found  on  the  Plata,  trusting  which  tales  he  decided  to  alter  the 
purpose  of  the  voyage  and  stop  at  the  Plata. 

VIII  Int.  Whether  Rqjas  opposed  changing  the  voyage, 
showing  that  the  Portuguese  only  wanted  to  keep  him  from 
going  to  the  Moluccas. 

IX  Int.  WhetLor,  in  consequence  of  Rojas's  opposition, 
Cabot,  in  order  to  have  his  hands  free,  tried  to  liave  him 
killed,  and  the  attempt  failing,  issued  process  against  him, 
without  giving  him  a  hearing,  suborning  witnesses,  .'':c. 

X  Int.  Whether  on  pretext  of  this  process  he  kept  him 
some  days  a  prisoner,  and  for  all  the  insistance  Rojas  made, 
never  told  him  the  reason  why  he  was  held  in  arrest. 

XI  Int.  Whether  after  keeping  him  for  some  days  in  arrest 
on  board  of  Care's  vessel,  he  had  him  taken  to  his  own  ship 
where  Rojas  heard  others  say  he  had  been  imprisoned  on 
false  charges,  and  that  Cabot  ought  to  punish  him  if  guilty  or 
punish  the  others  as  slanderers. 

XII  Int.  Whether  in  spite  of  the  remonstrances  of  Rojas 
Cabot  left  Pernambuco  with  the  intention  of  stopping  at  the 
Plata,  and  stopped  at  the  Island  of  Patos  to  take  off  some 
Christians  who  were  there,  and  get  information  from  them 
concerning  that  river. 

XIII  Int.  Whether  at  the  Island  of  Patos,  some  Christians 
from  D.  Rodrigo  da  Acunha's  ship  said  that  Loaysa's  squsid- 
rou  was  lost  in  Magellan  Strait,  and  Cabot  showed  satisfaction, 
boasting  of  the  coming  victory  of  his  own  expedition. 

XIV  Int.  Whether  at  these  base  words  of  Cabot,  Rojas 
answered  regretting  them,  and  insisted  that  they  should 
continue  the  voyage  and  relieve  Loaysa. 

XV  Int.  Whether  on  the  stranding  of  the  flag-ship  Cabot 
basely  abandoned  it  at  once,  and  after  him  the  rest  were  de- 


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APPENDIX  NO.  3fi. 


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moralized,  and  so  the  ship  was  lost  when  it  might  have  been 
saved. 

XVI  Int.  Whether  on  the  contrary  Francis  do  Rojas 
came  forward  and  used  every  means  and  saved  the  crew  niid 
most  of  the  stores. 

XVII  Int.  Of  the  zeal  of  Rojas  iu  caring  for  and  helpin^j 
those  that  fell  sick. 

XVIII  Int.  Whethor  in  consequence  of  this  zeal  of  liojas 
and  the  affection  of  all  towards  him,  Cabot  through  envy  be- 
came more  hostile  to  him. 

XIX  Int.  Whether  out  of  this  envy  Cabot  imprisoned 
him  again,  and  would  not  tell  him  the  reason,  nor  give  him 
a  trial,  notwithstanding  his  demands  and  the  constitution 
established  by  H.  M. 

XX  Int.  Whether,  at  the  time  of  sailing  from  Patos,  Cabot 
had   Rojas  and  Mendez  abandoned  on  that  island. 

XXI  Int.  Of  the  protest  made  by  Mendez  while  they  were 
abandoning  him. 

XXII  Int.  Whether  the  inhabitants  of  the  island  where 
Rojas  was  deserted  eat  human  flesh,  and  had  already  killed  and 
eaten  several  Christians,  and  Cabot  left  him  there  for  tliut 
purpose  and  gave  him  as  a  slave  to  one  of  the  principal 
Indians  of  the  island. 

XXIII  Int.  Whether  Rojas  underwent  great  suffering  and 
peril  on  that  island. 

XXIV  Int.  Whether  by  continuing  the  voyage  the  ex- 
pedition would  have  procured  for  the  Emperor  a  profit 
of  not  less  than  two  millions,  even  if  they  had  only  brought 
back  a  cargo  of  spices. 

XXV  Int.  Whether  Rojas  by  continuing  that  voyage 
would  have  gained  ten  thousand  crowns. 

XXVI  Int.  Whether  all  that  is  here  asked  is  not  the 
public  voice  and  rumor. 


WITNESSES. 


The  same  day,  November  2, 1530,  that  Rojas  presented  his 
Interrogatories,  he  also  offered  Anthony  de   Montoya  a  cit- 


AM>KNt)lX  No.  36. 


361 


izen  of  Lepe,  as  a  witness  to  his  charges,  and  his  deposition  is 
annexed  to  the  charges  of  the  Interrogatories.  But  the  tlinn- 
cellor  betore  signing  the  deposition,  records  that  the  presen- 
tations of  other  witnesses  follow  after,  "despues  siguen  las 
presentaciones  de  otros  testigos  ;"  but  their  names  or  surnames 
are  not  given. 

In  the  Proofs  of  both  Catharine  Vasquez  and  Sebastian 
Cabot,  the  depositions  of  the  witnesses  follow  each  interroga- 
tory. Why  is  it  not  so  here  ?  For  my  part,  seeing  that  many 
of  the  accusations  of  Rojas  are  shown  by  a  light  as  bright  as 
noon-day  to  be  pure  slanders,  I  suspect  that  the  matter  is 
not  altogether  clear  :  that  is  to  say,  that  Rojas  presented  at 
once  that  single  witness  whose  testimony  he  was  sure  of  ;  and 
as  to  the  rest  that  he  handed  in  a  list  of  names,  but  in  fact  no 
others  were  called  to  testify. 

Then  as  to  the  single  witness  heard,  the  abstract  of  his  evi- 
dence is  quickly  given  by  saying  that  he  not  only  confirm&  all 
the  charges,  but  most  frequently  in  the  very  words  of  the  ac- 
cusation ;  so  that  the  chancellor  of  the  court  when  at  the  be- 
ginning of  each  question  he  had  substituted  "dijo"  for  "Si 
saben,"  it  was  only  iiecessary  in  most  instances  to  copy  the 
rest. 


XXXVI. 


Abstract  of  Sebastian  Cabot's  Probanda  in  the  suit  brought  af/ainiit 
him  by  Catharine  Vasquez. 

I  Int.  Whether  the  witnesses  know  the  persons  implicated 
in  this  suit. 

Ans.  Yes. 

II  Int.  Whether  they  know  of  the  expedition  conducted  by 
Sebastian  Cabot. 

Ans.  Yes.  Here  follow  the  names  and  surnames  of  the 
witnesses  with  their  numbers.  Afterwards  the  record  gives  only 
their  number. 

III  Int.  Whether  they  know  that  Martin  Mendez,  Rojas,  and 
other  officers  met  at  Seville,  and  took  an  oath  to  unite  always 


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362 


APPENDIX  NO.  36. 


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against  Cabot,  and  to  depose  him  and  make  Rojas  Captain. 

Ans,  The  i  heard  it  publicly  stated. 

The  viii  has  heard  talk  of  disagreement  between  Mendoz 
and  Rojas  on  one  side  and  Cabot  on  the  other,  that  the  former 
had  labored  with  the  organizers  of  the  expedition  to  have 
Rojas  put  in  command:  knows  no  more. 

The  ix  has  heard  of  the  meeting  and  the  oath,  but  was  not 
told  why. 

The  X  has  heard  of  the  meeting  and  of  the  agreement 
to  kill  Cabot  and  put  Rojas  in  his  place.  He  was  also  told  tliat 
a  sailor  had  attempted  Cabot's  life,  and  every  one  believed  he 
acted  on  behalf  of  the  conspirators  ;  he  had  also  heard  that 
Rojas  said  that  he  would  have  killed  Cabot  at  the  Rio 
De  Solis. 

IV  Int.  Whether  they  know  that  at  the  Canaries  the  Seville 
conspirators  met  again  and  conspired  with  Alonzo  de  Santa 
Cruz. 

Ans.  The  i  has  heard  it  publicly  spoken  of. 

The  vi  saw  the  persons  named  assembled  with  Santa  Cruz 
who  was  sick,  but  does  not  know  for  what. 

The  vii  has  heard  it  spoken  of. 

The  ix  has  heard  the  meeting  talked  of,  but  was  not 
told  what  it  was  for. 

V  Int.  Whether  they  know  that  Cabot  was  a  learned  person 
and  better  informed  on  matters  of  the  sea  than  any  one  else 
and  on  this  account  was  placed  at  the  head  of  the  expedition: 
and  that  he  took  no  step  without  first  consulting  the  captains 
and  officers. 

Ans.  All  the  eleven  witnesses  confirm  this  fully,  some  with 
lively  sentiments  of  admiration,  and  also  giving  particulars. 

VI  Int.  Whether  Cabot  at  the  Island  of  Saint  Catharine 
sent  Michael  de  Rodas  and  Anthony  de  Grajeda  to  sound  the 
bottom  of  the  sea. 

Ans.  The  four  witnesses  called  all  confirm  it. 

VII  Int.  Whether  the  said  Rodas  and  Grajeda  reported 
they  had  taken  soundings  and  that  there  was  plenty  of  water 
for  the  ships. 

Ans.  Nin§  witnesses  fully  confirm  it. 


APPENDIX  NO.  36. 


363 


VIII  Int.  Whether  the  flag-ship  was  lost  from  not  taking 
proper  soundings. 

Ans.  The  i  witness  confirms  the  fact  and  relates  the  de- 
spair of  Rodas. 

The  ii,  iii,  v,  vi,  vii,  and  ix  confirm  it. 

The  X  confirms  it,  adding  the  bluster  of  Rodas  before 
the  accident. 

IX  Int.  Whether  they  know  that  groat  quantities  of  pro- 
visions, rigging,  arms,  &c.,  the  best  they  had  for  the  ex- 
pedition, were  lost  with  the  flag-ship. 

Ans.  Eight  witnesses  confirm  it  of  their  own  knowledge, 
having  belonged  to  the  ship,  and  one  on  hearsay. 

The  X,  who  belo:xged  also  to  the  same  ship,  estimates  the  loss 
at  two  thirds  of  all  that  the  expedition  had  ;  and  for  what  was 
saved  he  gives  the  credit  to  Cabot's  orders  and  energy. 

X  Int.  Whether  they  know  that  many  of  the  expedition 
died  from  the  length  of  the  voyage  because  they  werd  not 
used  to  the  sea,  from  the  climate,  etc. 

Ans.  The  i  testifies  that  many  died  of  fever  at  the  Island  of 
Saint  Catharine. 

The  ii,  iii,  iv,  v,  and  vil  confirm  it. 

The  vi  confirms  it  and  adds  the  River  de  Solis  to  the  Island 
of  Saint  Catharine,  and  hunger  to  fever,  and  that  many  were 
killed  by  Indians. 

The  viii  confirms  it,  and  says  that  every  one,  or  nearly 
every  one,  was  taken  sick. 

The  ix  confirms  it,  and  explains  that  many  died  from  ihe 
long  navigation,  change  of  climate,  land,  food,  etc.,  as  he 
has  seen  on  the  other  voyages. 

The  X  confirms  it,  and  says  that  every  one  was  sick,  some 
died  on  the  island,  others  on  the  voyage. 

XI  Int.  Whether  the  inhabitants  of  the  Island  of  St.  Cath- 
arine and  its  neighborhood  were  friendly,  and  whether  they 
found  there  many  Christians  from  D.  Rodrigo  da  Acunha's 
ship. 

Ans.  Eight  witnessess  fully  confirm  it. 

XII  Int.  Whither  Cabot  was  unable  to  continue  the 
voyage  after  the  loss  of  the  flag-ship,  because  it  was  the  half 


S64 


APPfil^DIX  NO.  3d. 


of  the  expedition,  and  because  all  the  men  were  sud- 
denly taken  sick  at  that  place. 

Ans.  The  i  confirms  it,  adding  the  ^eat  deal  that  was  told 
them  of  the  wealth  of  La  Plata. 

The  iii  only  knows  of  the  great  number  taken  sick 

The  iv  knows  of  many  sick,  and  the  loss  of  victuals,  and 
no  more. 

The  V  confirms  it. 

The  vi,  viii,  and  ix  know  of  the  loss  of  victuals,  and  of  the 
many  sick,  but  no  more. 

Tlie  vii  confirms  it,  and  derives  his  conviction  from 
the  fact  that  the  few  that  escaped  the  sickness  were  not 
enough  to  work  the  ships. 

The  X  confirms  it,  repeating  that  about  two  thirds  of 
all  that  was  in  the  ships  was  lost  with  the  flag-ship. 

XIII  Int.  Whether  Cabot  landed  at  Pernambuco  in  conse- 
quence of  foul  weather,  and  the  same  v/eather  drove  him  back 
when  he  tried  to  depart. 

Ans.  The  i  confirms  it,  deposing  that  they  tried  three  times 
to  leave  there  and  were  always  driven  back  again. 
The  other  nine  confirm  the  Question. 

XIV  Int.  Whether  they  know  that  the  foul  w^eather  lasted 
three  months 

Ans.  The  witnesses  confirm  it. 

XV  Int.  Whether  they  know  that  at  the  time  of  this  rest 
Cabot  arrested  Francis  Rojas  and  Martin  Mendez  for  the  war 
they  had  made  on  him,  and  were  every  day  making  with  his 
men  ;  and  whether  it  is  true  ihat  they  wanted  to  revolt  and 
kill  Cabot. 

Ans.  The  i  knows  of  the  arrest,  public  report  said  they 
wanted  to  revolt,  that  he  afterwards  saw  them  set  free'and  in 
the  same  power  as  before. 

The  ii,  iv,  v,  viii,  and  ix  only  know  of  the  arrest. 

The  iii  and  vii  know  of  the  arrest :  it  was  a  public  rumor 
that  they  meant  to  revolt. 

The  X  knows  of  the  arrest ;  public  report  confirms  a'v  hat  i? 
in  the  question. 

The  vi  knows  nothing,  now  hears  it  spoken  of  for  the  first 


APPENDIX  NO.  36. 


865 


m: 


time  ;  he  saw  them  serving  well  and  faithfully,  and  heard 
others  say  so. 

XVI  Int.  Whether  Cabot  at  Pernambuco  released  Francis 
de  Rojas  and  restored  him  to  the  command  of  the  Trinidad, 
admonishing  him,  etc. 

Ans.  The  i,  ii,  iii,  vii,  and  viii  confirm  it. 

The  iv,  V,  and  x  know  of  the  release  and  return  to  com- 
mand, not  of  the  admonition. 

The  ix  testifies  to  the  restoration  to  freedom,  heard  the  rest 
from  public  report. 

XVII  Int.  Whether  at  St.  Catharine  Cabot  stopped  to 
build  a  galiot  by  agreement  with  the  officers,  in  order  to  load 
it  with  what  wat^  ^r  ,  ^d  from  the  loss  of  the  flag-ship. 

Ans.  Thei,  ii,  iii,  iv,  v,  vii,  viii,  and  ix  confirm  all. 
The  vi  confirms  the  building  of  the  galiot,  infers  the  agree- 
ment from  the  harmony  between  the  officers  and  Cabot. 
The  x  confirms  the  building,  infers  the  agreement. 

XVIII  Int.  Whether  at  the  Island  of  St.  Catharine  two 
jnen  were  found  who  had  been  with  Captain  do  Solis,  and 
whether  they  urged  going  to  the  river  discovered  by  De 
Solis,  asserting  that  one  of  their  companions  had  gone  there, 
and  brought  away  a  great  quantity  of  gold  and  silver. 

Ans.  The  ten  witnesses  called  fully  confirm  the  matter. 

XIX  Int.  W^hether  the  expedition  stopped  at  the  River 
de  Solis  by  agreement  of  all  the  otticers. 

Ans.  The  i,  ii,  ''i,  v,  vii,  viii,  and  ix  confirm  it. 

The  iv  confirm?.  \  adding  that  Cabot  did  nothing  without 
first  agreeing  with  the  officers. 

The  vi  confirms  it,  but  remembers  that  Rojas  opposed  it. 

The  X  confirms  it,  giving  also  what  some  of  the  officers  said 
of  the  wealth  they  should  find  at  the  River  de  Solis. 

XX  Int.  Whether  on  leaving  the  Bay  of  St.  Catharine,  about 
all  the  men  were  sick,  and  in  consequence  of  sickness  unable 
to  follow. 

Ans.  The  i  says  many  were  sick  wher  they  left  there, 
many  died  at  the  entrance  of  the  river,  where  \  hey  stopped ;  that 
the  officers  held  council  with  Cabot,  and  ii  was  decided  to 
leave  the  sick  there,  and  continue  the  explorition  of  the  river 
with  the  rest. 


i 


y;  .  s 


366 


VPPENDIX  NO.  36. 


mi 


liCJ  , 


'■'■'■'■m 


The  ii,  iii,  iv,  v,  vi,  viii,  ix,  and  x  all  confirm  it,  some  addin^r 
also  the  want  of  food,  and  the  extreme  weakness  of  all. 

XXI  Int.  Whether  in  consequence  of  the  sickness  and 
extreme  weakness  they  were  obliged  to  abandon  two  anchors 
which  they  could  not  draw  from  the  bottom  of  the  river 

Ans.  Nine  witnesses  confirm  it. 

XXII  Int.  Whether  they  remained  on  the  River  Parana  more 
than  half  a  year  waiting  for  the  convalescents  to  recover,  and 
in  the  meantime  many  of  them  died. 

Ans.  The  i,  ii,  iii,  iv,  v,  and  vii  fully  confirm  it. 

The  vi  knows  they  remained  some  time  on  the  Parana,  but 
does  not  know  how  long;  remembers  one  death,  no  more. 

The  ix  knows  that  some  died,  but  does  not  know  that  they 
were  so  many;  and  does  not  remember  how  long  they  remaii.ed 
there. 

The  X  knows  that  some  died,  but  does  not  know  as  tliey 
were  so  many  ;  they  remained  there  half  a  year,  a  little  more 
or  less. 

XXIII  Int.  Whether  at  the  Island  of  St.Catharine,  Cabot 
found  sufficient  proof  that  Francis  Rojas,  Martin  Mendez, 
and  Michael  de  Rodas  were  raising  the  men  up  against  him, 
and  having  this  proof  brou'/iit  them  to  trial,  and  althougli 
they  deserved  death,  changed  this  punishment  to  deposition. 

Ans.  The  ii,  iii,  iv,  and  v  only  know  of  the  deposition. 

The  viii  knows  of  the  deposition  but  not  of  the  reason  ; 
but  he  saw,  while  the  men  were  ashore,  the  sails  of  the 
caravel  hoisted,  and  heard  afterwards  that  it  was  an  attempt 
at  revolt. 

The  ix  saw  witnesses  called  to  give  evidence  against 
Rojas  and  his  companions  ;  knows  no  more. 

The  X  knows  of  the  deposition,  heard  say  that  it  was  for  an 
attempt  to  revolt. 

XXIV  Int.  Whether  Cabot  left  the  three  deposed  ofricors 
well  provided  with  food  and  arms  ;  and  whether  he  rec- 
ommended them  to  the  principal  Indians  for  good  treatment. 

Ans.  The  i  knows  of  the  provisions  of  his  own  knowledge, 
of  the  recommendation  b}'  hearsay. 
..  The  ii  knows  both  on  hearsay. 


m 


APPENDIX  ^O.  36. 


367 


The  iii  confirms  both  of  his  own  knowledge. 

The  iv  confirms  both  on  hearsay. 

The  V,  vi,  vii,  and  x  confirm  both  with  some  details. 

The  ix  comfirms  both,  and  adds  particulars. 

XXV  Int.  Whether  they  know  that  Francis  de  Rojas 
stabbed  Genoese  Michael  to  death,  and  then  tried  to  kill 
Martin  Mendez  and  Michael  de  Rodas,  who  fled  from 
him  in  consequence  and  went  towards  Port  San  Vincento 
where  there  were  many  Portuguese,  but  were  drowned  on  the 
way. 

Ans.  The  i,  ii,  iii,  and  v  have  heard  it  spoken  of  at  the  Isl- 
and of  St.  Catharine  itself. 

The  vi  gives  various  details  of  the  quarrel  between  the 
three  officers,  and  of  the  reason  why  Rojas  killed  the  Genoese  ; 
he  does  not  know  that  Rojas  also  threatened  the  two  others. 

The  ix  and  x  confirm  it  with  many  particulars. 

XXVI  Int.  Whether  they  know  that  Cabot  executed  two 
men  who  revolted  and  tried  to  induce  others  to  revolt  ;  that 
one  of  them  used  his  power  to  the  injury  of  the  Indians,  who 
revolted,  and  Cabot  had  much  to  do  to  quiet  them. 

Ans.  The  i  confirms  it,  relating  that  he  had  also  heard  that 
they  meant  to  kill  Cabot. 

The  ii,  iii,  and  v  confirm  it. 

The  vi  makes  a  long  deposition  with  most  interesting  de- 
tails, on  the  hunger  they  endured,  the  desertion  of  the  two 
Christians,  their  arrest,  death,  etr 

The  viii  confirms  it,  making  hrewise  a  deposition  very 
rich  in  details. 

The  X  confirms  and  gives  further  details. 

XXVII  Int.  Whether  Lieutenant  Calderon  had  the  errs 
cut  off"  a  sailor  found  stealing,  and  who  fled  inland. 

Ans.  The  nine  witnesses  called  all  confirm  it. 

XXVIII  Int.  Of  Cabot's  care  in  governing  the  expedition. 
Ans.  The  i,  ii,  iii,  iv,  ix,  and  x  confirm  it. 

The  vi  and  viii  confirm  it,  adding  important  details. 

XXIX  Int.  Whether  Cabot  treated  the  Indians  well,  and 
would  not  sufTer  them  to  be  ill-treated. 

Ans.  Nine  witnesses  confirm  it. 


m 


I 


m 


liifi 


m 


i 


m 


I 


till; 

iii. 


ii'' 


Ijlil!: 

iiliiii 


lift  .i|ii 

iiiiiir 
m 


368 


APPENDIX  NO. 


Ik" 


\K 


XXX  Int.  Whether  they  know  that  John  de  Junco  (treas- 
urer of  the  expedition  on  the  Santa  Maria  )  is  one  of  Cabot's 
principal  enemies,  and  was  one  of  the  conspirators  against 
]\im  at  Seville. 

Ans.  The  vi,  on  the  contrary,  found  them  always  friendly, 
knows  nothing  of  the  conspiracy. 

The  ix,  from  what  he  has  seen  him  doing  against  Cabot 
since  their  return,  concludes  that  he  hates  him. 

The  X  believes  the  enmity,  but  explains  that  it  was  because 
Cabot  had  often  reproved  him  for  ill-treating  the  sailors,  and 
bpcause  once,  when  he  found  him  threatening  to  kill  a  smitli, 
Cabot  told  him  if  he  did,  he  would  soon  kill  him,  and  he  is 
strengthened  in  his  opinion  by  the  fact  that,  as  soon  as  they 
arrived  in  Spain,  Junco  talked  with  the  officers  of  the  Contra- 
tacion,  and  Cabot  was  arrested  immediately  afterwards. 

XXXI  Int.  Whether  Alonzo  Bueno  is  Cabot's  enemy  because 
he  had  been  often  punished  by  him  for  keeping  a  pul)li(; 
gaming-place,  being  a  blasphemer,  and  selling  necessaries  to 
sailors  at  an  exorbitant  price. 

Ans.  The  i  confirms  the  facts,  and  infers  from  them  the 
enmity,  and  gives  the  names  of  the  four  officers  who  had 
the  most  influence  in  procuring  Cabot's  arrest. 

Thcii,  iii,  v,  vi,  and  viii,  eonrinn  the  facts. 

The  ix  since  returning  to  Spain  has  seen  the  said  Alonzo 
doing  Cabot  all  the  harm  possible,  and  therefore  judges  him 
to  be  his  enemy. 

The  X  confirms  it  fully,  mentioning  also  other  faults  of 
Alonzo. 

XXXII  Int.  Whether  Santa  Cruz  is  Cabot's  enemy,  so  de- 
clared, and  one  of  the  conspirators  against  him. 

Ans.  The  ix  confirms  the  enmity  from  the  facts,  has  heard 
that  he  was  one  of  the  conspirators. 
The  X  confirms  it. 

XXXIII  Int.  Whether  Gasmirez  is  Cabot's  enemy  because 
punished  by  him  for  speaking  ill  of  the  Emperor. 

Ans.  The  viii  confirms  it. 

The  X,  from  what  he  has  seen  him  do  against  Cabot,  infers 
that  he  is  his  enemy. 


AI'I'KNDIX   NO.  ;iO. 


369 


I  Additional  Int.  Whetlier  they  know  that  Ferdinand 
Mondez,  Martin's  brother,  died  a  natural  death,  like  many 
others  on  the  Island  of  St.  Catharine,  before  Cabot  deposed  his 
brother  Martin,  and  whether  there  is  at  that  place  abundance 
of  food,  and  whether  Cabot  treated  said  Ferdinand  perfectly 
well. 

Ans.  The  iii  and  v  confirm  it  all,  except  that  they  say 
nothing  as  to  whether  Ferdinand  died  before  his  brother 
Martin  was  deposed. 

The  iv  confirms  it  on  hearsay. 

The  vi  confirms  all  fully. 

The  vii  and  x  confirm  it. 

The  ix  confirms  it  with  additional  circumstances. 

II  Add.  Int.  Whether,  while  tliey  were  going  to  the  Par- 
aguay, Cabot  sent  a  band  of  men  in  search  of  food,  they  all 
retiirned  but  one,  and  he  sent  twice  to  look  for  him,  with  all 
postuble  diligence,  and  wanted  to  continue  the  search,  till  the 
officers  insisted  on  departing  in  order  not  to  die  of  famine. 

Ans.  The  iv,  v,  and  ix  confirm  the  first  part  fully. 

The  vi  and  x  confirm  the  whole. 

The  viii  confirms  it  with  many  particulars. 

Aftei'  the  proceedings  of  the  trial,  at  the  end,  are  recorded  : 

A.  An  information  presented  to  the  Casa  de  Contratacion 
by  Catherine  Vasquez,  August  2,  1530. 

B.  Another  information  taken  by  Sebastian  Cabot  on  board 
of  ship  July  2,  1528.  It  is  there  said  that  the  order  for  the 
arrest  of  the  three  officers  who  were  deposed,  was  based  on 
this  information. 

C.  A  third  information  taken  by  the  Casa  de  Contratacion 
to  ascertain  what  was  done  on  the  voyage  and  what  was  dis- 
covered on  land  This  information  was  taken  without  inter- 
rogatories, July  28,  1530. 

D.  There  is  also  a  record  of  some  opinions  which  Cabot  at 
the  harbor  of  S&.n  Salvador  asked  ofsomeof  the  officers  about 
a  voyage  to  ....(?);  a  record  presented  by  Cabot  for  his  de- 
fence, those  oflScers  having  all  said  that  the  voyage  ought  not 
to  be  made.  These  opinions  were  taken  October  6, 1529. 

E.  Another  summary  information  presented  by   Cabot  to 


370 


APPENDIX  NO.  87. 


show  by  whose  fault  the  fort  of  San  Espiritu  in  the  port  of 
Han  Salvador  was  captured.  The  capture  was  October  12, 1529. 
F.  Another  summary  information  taken  at  Cabot's  request 
before  the  ordinary  court  at  Seville,  August  7,  1530. 


XXXVII. 


izv  ;:'"*.  i'"'.    1^ 


Ln 


^a''  '    ' "' 

HC    ■■ 

■^>-;^ 

Extract  from  the  Letter  of  Luis  Ramirez. 

Despues  de  una  breve  introduccion  en  que  indica  c^  objcto 
que  se  propuso  al  escribirla,  refiere  como  ^alieron  de  hi  baliia 
do  San  Lucar  a  3  de  Abril  de  1526,*  Detienense  en  'a  isia  de 
Palma  para  proveerse  de  agua  y  lefia  y  atraversando  el  ceiiador 
llegaron  a  Pernambuco  por  Junio  del  mismo  afio,  —  AUi  so  dc - 
tubieron  algun  tiempo  para  proveerse  de  lo  necesario  e  iiifor- 
niarse  de  la  tierra,  cuyos  productos  sefiala,  describiendo  tuin- 
bien  las  costumbres  barbaras  de  sus  habitantes.  Al  poco  tiempo 
de  haber  salido  de  este  puerto  (29  de  Setiembre)  sufneron  una 
horrorosa  tormenta  en  que  pereciO  el  batel  de  lanao  capitaiia, 
teniendo  que  detenerse  junto  a  una  gran  montafia  donde  hul)ia 
madera  para  la  construccion  del  nuevo  batel.  Estando  en  e.sto 
llegaron  indios  en  canoas,  y  dieronles  a  entender  que  habia  por 
alii  algunos  cristianos,  de  los  cuales  en  efecto  llego  al  dia  ki- 
guiente  uno  que  dianoticiaal  capitan  general  de  otros  varios 
hasta  quinze  que  estaban  alii  desde  la  derrota  sufrida  por  la  ar- 
matade  Loaisa,  iendo  a  las  islas  de  especerie,  Otros  dos  cspa- 
fioles  habia  alii  pornombre  Melchor  Ramirez  y  Enrique  Mon- 
tes,  los  cuales  informaron  al  capitan  de  la  gran  riqueza  de  la 
tierra  y  de  como  saliendo  del  rio  de  Solis  y  entrando  por  el 
Paraguay  llegaron  a  dar  con  una  sierra  abundante  en  ore, 
plata  y  otros  metallos  con  los  que  podrian  llenar  las  naves. 
Pideles  el  general  alguna  muestra  de  aquel  oro  y  plata,  y 
refieren  como  habiendo  estado  cerca  de  la  sierra  algunos  do 


*  The  original  has  1536  whicli  does  not  accord  withi  the  other  facts  of  the 
narrative  (Note  added  to  the  abstract). 


mm 


APPENDIX  NO.  37. 


871 


SU8  corapafleros  ft  ver  al  rev  Blanco,  pudieron  observar  lag 
prondas  de  oro  quo  llevaban  los  indios  traidas  de  la  misina 
sierra,  y  quo  habiondo  querido  volver  a  aquol  sitio  fucroii 
usaltudos  do  los  guaranis  para  arrebatarlcs  los  esclavos  quo 
tniian  cargados  del  metal  ;  y  quo  por  esto,  conio  por  haber 
iiiandado  a  EspaJla  poco  antes  hasta  dos  arrobab  de  oro  (quo 
nl  liiiso  pordieron)  no  con,sorvaban  mas  quounaseuentas  quo 
Ionian  reservadas  par  la  V.  do  Guadalupe  unico  objeto  do  oro 
(juo  prosentaron.  A  la  oferta  quo  olios  hicioron  do  acompan- 
arlo  contesto  el  capitan  que  no  era  aquol  su  oaniino.  Habiondo 
pordido  la  nao  capitana  retiranso  a  un  monto  para  construir 
una  galeota  on  la  cual  y  en  la  provision  do  vivoros  fueron  nmy 
ayudados  do  los  indios,  gracias  &  las  diligoneias  do  Enrique 
Montos  quo  los  conocia.  Rofiere  on  seguida  algunas  do  las 
costumbres  del  pais  con  sus  productos  y  las  enfermedades  quo 
hubioron  de  sufrir  d  esto  sitio  d  cau.sa  da  .ser  malsano.  Sa- 
lieron  dcste  puerto  quo  llaniaron  do  Sta  Catalina  el  15  do  Fe- 
broro  do  1527  llegando  despuos  do  seis  dias  (i  Sta  Maria 
puerto  d  la  dosembocadura  del  rio  de  Solis(La  Plata).  Seflala 
la  magnitud  del  rio  y  cuenta  los  muchostrabajos  quo  pasaron 
basta  llegar  a  un  puerto  que  llamaron  de  S.  Lazaro  donde  so 
detubieron  un  mes  para  informarso  de  la  tierra. — Un  tal 
Francisco  del  Puerto,  cautivo  dosde  la  derrota  de  Solis  los 
entera  de  la  mucha  riqueza  del  pais  y  del  camino  quo  deban 
segui^'  para  dar  con  la  referida  sierra.  Con  esto  el  capitan  de- 
termino  salir  de  alii  el  6  de  Mayo  no  sin  dejar  alguna  gento 
pare  la  guarda  de  la  hacienda  que  en  aquol  sitio  quedaba. 
Unos  y  otros  padecen  muchos  trabajos  y  hambres,  hasta  quo 
el  general  manda  la  galeota  para  conducir  la  gente  y  hacienda 
do  S.  Lazaro,  do  donde  salieron  el  25  de  Agosto  para  llegar  el 
28  al  nuovo  sitio  donde  el  general  habia  hecho  asiento  y  una 
fortaleza  para  la  defensa.  —  Habla  luego  do  las  diversas  tribus 
comarcanas,  sus  costumbres,  productos  de  la  tierra  etc.,  etc. .  . . 
y  como  segun  informacion  de  los  mismos  indios  el  camino 
iiias  breve  para  ir  a  la  sierra,  era  entrar  por  el  Paraguay. 
Continuan  pues  cl  viaje  dejando  la  fortaleza  a  cargo  de  Greg- 
orio  Caro  y  llegan  a  la  isla  Ano  nucvo  este  mismo  dia  (1528). 
Desde  aqui  mand&  el  cap.  gen.  a  Miguel  Rifos  con  35  hoinbres 


ii'»'i 


|i-,i  ilrfiSijW 


l:':,Jl 


h 


i!iiaiit[ii:  ■ 


iiii'    * 


372 


APPENDIX  NO.  87. 


b> 


■»f 


1 


para  apacigiiar  y  castigar  a  \oi  tribus  que  trataban  do  re- 
belarse  contra  olios.  Consipnaso  lacompleta  victoria  y  el  rico 
botin   que  adquirieron,  y  la  rara  costumbre  que  las  indins 
tionon  de  cortarse  un  dcdo  li  la  muerto  do  sus  bijoH. — du- 
rante este  \iaje  encontraron  varias  tribus  cuyascostunibres  ye 
ilescriben  y  tampoco  faltaron  bambres    por    la   escasez   de 
vivcros.  Llcgan  por  tin  a  ybocarse  con  el  Paraguay  por  el  cum  I 
HO  encaminan,  y  en  el  que  los  trabajos  y  el  bainbro  so  du- 
plican,    a  cau.sa  de  haberseles  concluido  por  comploto  \uh 
vivores  ;   vicndose     precisados   a  comer   los  animales   mas 
inmundos  y  las  plantas  mas  agrestes.    Para  roniediar  tan 
urgente  neccsidad  manda  el  capitan  un  vergantin  atodo  hmho 
on  busca  de  bastimontos  a  unos  caserios  bastantc  distantos, 
volviendo  al  poco  tiompo  bien  provisto.     Con  esto  pudieron 
llogar  a  dicbo  pueblo  que  se  hallaba  regido  por  un  indjo 
principal  llamado  Jaquaron,  el  cual  lesrecibio  muy  bien  y  los 
provego  de  abundantes  viveres    En  este  puerto  c^uo  recibi6  ol 
nombre  de  S.  Ana  estubioron  algunos  dias  y  oomo  vieron  (juo 
los  indios  llevaban  orejeras  y  planchas  de  oro  y  plata,  quisi- 
oron  saber  de  donde  lo  traien  asi  los  de  este  i)ueblo  como  los 
de  otro  inmediato  a  donde  se  mand6  a   Fr.  *'°  del  Puerto. — 
Este  pudo  averiguar  que  los  chandules  (pueblo  distante  60  6 
70  leguas),  se  lo  daban  en  cambio  de  otros  objetos.  Determina 
el  general  continuar  el  viaje  hasta  los  mismos  cbandules,  que 
segun  decia  se  hallaban  cercanos  a  la  sierra. — Pueblos  que 
fueron  descubriendo  por  la  ribera  del  rio.  El  cap.  gen.  manda 
un  vergantin  delante  para  que  descubre  la  boca  del  rio  Ne- 
petin  que  segun  los  indios  significaba  barriento  por  el  color  do 
sus  aguas,  el  cual  traia  su  origen.  segun  los  mismos,  de  la 
referida  sierra.  Tratan  de  celebrar  paces  con  el  pueblo  do  los 
agales,  y  al  principio  son  bien  recibidos,  pero  como  temiesen 
los  indios  ser  castigados  por  las  muertes  que  antes  habian  hc- 
cho,  matan  traidoramente  al  teniente  del  vergantin   Miguel 
Rifos  con  algunos  mas,  volviendo  los  restantes  tristes  a  la  ga- 
leota,  que  les  habia  seguido  desde  lejos  y  con  dificultades  por 
las  eondiciones  especiales  del  rio.  El  desgraciado  exito  de  esta 
espedicion  y  el  saber  que  andaba  una  armada  portuguesa  en  el 
rio  iSoljs  fueron  motivos  para  que  el  general  determinase  vol- 


.1  v  ' 


AlM'tCNDlX  NO.  38. 


373 


verso  rio  abojo  hastn  ol  I'tinuui  dondc  enoontraron  otru  iir- 

iiuida  del  Emporudor,  cuyo  capitan  Dii'^^o  (Jarcia  do  Mo^iu  r 

trato  do  unirse  &  nuostra  armada  para  volver  bion  pcrtrocha- 

dos  A  la  dicliasiorra  ;  pcro  al  fin  no  liubo  convenio  t>n*roain- 

luw  ^oneralos,  siguiendo  cada  cual  runibo  di.stinto.    X'iendoso 

indecisos  niandan  d  Espafla  it  Ner.si  Calderon  y  Koyel  Harco 

fon   una  carabela  y  algunos  prcscntes   de  ore  y  pliit.-i,  piii:i 

<|Uo  cxponganii  JS.  M.  la.s  necesidades  de  la  arnjadu  y  mniido 

{ti'oveer  lo  neccsario.   Desde  S.  Salavdor  a  el  rio  Solis  a  1(*  de 

Julio  do  1528. 

LuiH  Ramiuk/. 


XXXVIII. 

Abstract  of  the  Narrative  which  Diego  Garcia  made  of  his  voyage 

to  the  Plata  in  1526. 

On  the  15th  of  January,  1526, 1  sailed  from  Cape  Finisterre, 
which  lies  in  43°,  and  from  there  sailed  towards  the  Canaries, 
which  are  ....  *  leagues  from  Cape  Finisterre,  we  passed 
by  Madeira,  which  lies  in  32°,  30',  on  the  other  side  of  which 
at.  .  .  .*  stands  Porto  Santo,  and  ten  leagues  from  M  .^eira 
tiiere  is  an  island  which  is  called  Deserta.  There  we  came 
to  the  Island  of  Palma,  which  lies  at  29°,  and  at  the  Canaries 
we  took  on  what  we  needed  for  our  voyage,  for  we  came  from 
Corunna  without  supplies,  and  we  left  there  the  first  of  Septem- 
ber, because  in  the  middle  of  Septer-^^^r  the  sun  begins  to 
bring  the  summer  in  the  places  we  we.  e  going  to,  and  every 
one  sailing  to  those  parts,  ought  to  sail  at  this  season — f  *'  and 
this  navigation  Sebastian  Cabot  did  not  know  enough  to 
make,  with  all  his  astronomy,  and  took  the  contrary  like 
a  man  who  .  .  .  .  "  :j:  and  we  took  the  direction  of  the  Cape 
Verde  Islands,  and  from  the  Canaries  to  these  islands  it  is  250 


!■;  ■ 


*  The  text  is  illegible.' Many  such  breaks  are  found  in  the  narrative. 

t  Literal  traoslatioD  of  the  text.  t  The  text  ia  illegible. 


!!•( 


i'i'iil 


374 


APPENDIX  NO.  38. 


leagues,  pt  the  Island  of  Buona  Vista  we  took  on  a  fresh  sup- 
ply' of  provisions. 

(  Here  he  tells  the  geographical  position  of  Jie  difi'er- 
ent  islands  of  the  Cape  Verde  group,  and  mentions  the  art- 
icles of  their  commerce  ). 

From  the  Island  of  Buona  Vista  we  made  sail  towards 
Cape  St.  Augustin  which  is  8°  and  a  sixth  beyond  the  equi- 
noctial line,  and  this  course  has  to  be  sailed  with  great 
care  and  knowledge  of  seamanship,  for  there  are  stron*^ 
curronts  running  from  the  Gulf  of  Guinea  *  "  and  these  cur- 
rents Sebastian  Cabot  did  not  know  how  to  take,  for  he  was 
not  a  seaman,  and  did  not  know  navigation."  From  tlie 
Cape  Verde  Islands  to  Cape  St.  Augustin  it  is  500  leagues 
across. 

(  Here  he  touches  on  the  difficulty  of  this  crossing  on 
account  of  the  currents.  ) 

T  rom  there  we  passed  to  Cape  Frio,  which  is  at  23  dsgrees 
and  i  on  tho  side  of  the  south,  where  the  sun  makes  the  long- 
est day  on  the  13th  of  December,  and  from  Cape  St,  Augustin 
to  Cape  Frio  is  fifty  leagues,  and  at  seventeen  degrees  there 
is  a  bay  which  is  called  All-Saintb',  and  all  the  coast 
from  Cape  St.  Augustin  to  Cape  Frio  is  inhabited  by  a  bad 
race  that  eat  human  flesh  and  go  naked,  and  from  this  bay  to 
Cape  Formoso  at  twenty-two  degrees  there  are  many 
rocks  and  sand-banks.  We  found  there  an  island  not  marked 
on  any  chart,  which  wc  reserved  for  recognition  till  our  rreturn. 
From  there  we  went  for  fresh  supplies  for  the  ships  to 
the  Bay  of  St.  Vincent  which  is  in  thirteen  degrees,  where 
a  certain  bachelor  and  his  son-in-law  have  been  living 
thirty  years,  and  we  remained  there  .,ill  the  15th  of  Janu- 
ary of  the  next  year,  1527,  and  we  obtained  there  a  great  sup- 
ply of  fresh  meat  and  fish  and  whatever  we  wanted.  Fron> 
this  bachelor's  son-in-law  I  bought  a  brigantine  and  lie 
agreed  to  come  with  us  as  interpreter.  And  I  bargained  wilh 
the  bachelor  and  his  son-in-lnw  to  let  them  have  my  big  ship 
to  carry  eight  hundred  slaves  to  Spain,  and  made  the  bargain 


*  Literal  translation  of  tlie  text. 


APPENDIX  NO.  88. 


375 


with  the  agreement  of  all  my  officers  ;  and  it  was  agreed  that 
we  should  deliver  the  ship  at  the  Rio  de  la  Plata,  because  she 
could  not  enter  the  river,  and  1  had  often  told  Don  Ferdin- 
and's auditor  that  this  ship  could  not  enter  the  river  on  account 
of  her  size  ;  but  they  tried  to  make  me  load  her  with  slaves,  and 
I  did  so,  because  they  did  not  carry  out  His  Majesty's  orders, 
that  they  should  have  given  me  what  was  agreed  on  in 
the  bargains  ;  and  they  did  not  give  me  the  ship  at  the  time 
stipulated  for,  as  they  ought  to  have  given  me  the  ship 
in  September  and  they  did  not  give  it  to  me  till  the  middle 
of  January. 

We  sailed  from  the  Bay  of  St.  Vincent  in  the  middle  of  the 
month  of  January  of  the  said  year,  and  reached  Cape  St. 
Mary  which  is  in  thirty-four  degrees  and  a  half  ;  here  is  the 
entrance  to  the  Rio  de  la  Plata^  and  from  St.  Vincent  to 
Cape  St.  Mary  is  t\\  o  hundred  and  sixty-three  leagues  :  * 
"and  going  on  our  way  we  came  to  a  river  which  is  called  the 
Rio  de  Patos,  which  is  in  twenty-seven  degrees  and  has 
a  good  population  who  do  much  good  work  for  thf;  Christians 
and  are  called  Carriares,  and  here  they  gave  us  much  food, 
as  millet,  mandioco,  meal  &c.,&c,  for  they  were  good  Indians, 
and  it  was  here  that  Sebastian  Cabot  arrived  dead  with  hunger 
at  the  time  wiiile  I  was  there,  the  Indians  gave  liirn  food  and 
all  that  he  and  his  men  needed  for  their  voyage,  and  when  he 
wanted  to  go  where  he  was  going  he  took  fcur  sons  of  the  prin- 
cipal persons  there,  and  carried  them  to  Spain,  and  has  three 
of  them  at  Seville,  which  did  harm  to  that  harbor  which  was 
the  best  and  the  people  the  best  in  those  parts  because  he  had 
taken  the  sons  of  the  principal  men  of  the  island." 

Continuing  our  voyage  we  came  to  Cape  St.  Mary  which 
is  as  we  have  said  at  thirty -four  degrees  and  a  half  and  out- 
side of  the  cape  there  is  an  island  called  de  los  Pargos,  and 
here  we  remained  eight  days  waiting  for  our  brigantine  which 
came  behind.  And  further  on  the  river  terms  an  island  which 
is  called  La  Palma,  which  gives  good  shelter  for  a  few  ships  ; 
and  on  all  the  coast  around  not  an  Indian  was  seen,  but  fur- 


*  Literal  translation  of  tht^  lext. 


liii" 


m 


nil : 


376 


APPENDIX  NO.  88. 


ther  on  there  is  a  popultition  called  Charruaes  who  eat  humaii 
flesh  and  live  by  hunting  and  fishing.  Here  came  our  btigan- 
tine  and  we  went  to  the  Island  of  Las  Pietras  seventy  leagues 
further  on.  Here  we  remained  to  put  together  the  brigantino 
which  we  were  carrying  in  separate  pieces,  and  after  she  was 
equipped  I  began  to  ascend  the  river  with  her  and  after  sail- 
ing twenty-five  leagues  we  came  to  a  place  where  there  were  two 
of  Sebastian  Cabot's  ships,  and  Anthony  de  Grajeda  was  there 
as  a  guard.*  "He  came  against  us  with  some  Indian  canoes  and 
an  armed  boat  believing  we  were  Rojas  and  Michael  Rodas  and 
Martin  Mendez  coming  to  attack  him,  for  he  had  left  them  on 
an  island  abandoned  among  Indians,  and  wi  thought  we 
should  have  to  fight  supposing  that  he  came  to  hurt  us.  But  I 
recognized  him  as  Anthony  de  Grajeda,  and  we  knew  at  once 
that  it  was  Sebastian  Cabot's  fleet,  and  we  went  with  him  to  hi.s 
ships  and  he  showed  lis  great  honor,  and  gave  us  news  of  his 
Captain-general,  and  how  he  had  received  a  letter  that  day  in 
which  he  informed  him  1  ow  he  had  killed  more  than  four 
hundred  Indians,  and  was  going  with  great  victory  further  up 
the  river  making  war  on  the  Indians.  We  went  back  to  our 
ships  and  with  the  approval  of  all  my  officers  it  was  immedi- 
ately agreed  to  send  the  ship  out  of  the  river  because  she  was  in 
great  danger  from  the  strong  winds  blowing  at  that  season  in 
the  river,  and  let  her  go  to  take  in  the  cargo  of  slaves  of  the 
said  bachelor  who  had  charterd  her  for  Spain,  and  would  carry 
the  news  how  Sebastian  Caboto  was  doing  on  the  river  "  And 
the  (big)  ship  went  to  St.  Vincent,  and  the  others  joined  Sebas- 
tian Cabot's  ships,and  fifteen  days  after,I  left  there  on  my  brig- 
antine  with  sixty  men  and  we  arrived  eighty  leagues  further 
up  at  a  place  where  Sebastian  Cabot  had  for  a  fort  a  house  all 
made  of  straw  and  he  called  it  the  Fort  of  San  Espiritu,  and 
Gregoiy  Caro  was  there  on  guard.  So  far  we  saw  no  Indians, 
and  ill  this  place  and  around  it  there  were  Indians  called  Guar- 
anis.*  "  We  urged  Gregory  Care  to  abandon  this  conquest 
because  it  did  not  concern  him,  and  he  answered  us  very  well, 
and  said  that  they  were  in  that  house  for  His  Majesty  and  Se- 


*  Literal  translation  of  the  text 


APPENDIX  NO.  36. 


377 


'''4 


bastian  Cabot,  and  for  the  rest,  he  was  at  my  command  (  res- 
pondio  rauy  bien,  dijo  que  todo  lo  obederia,  e  (juestavan  en 
aquella  casa  por  su  mayestad  e  por  Sebastian  gavoto  e  que  es- 
tava  a  mi  servicio),  and  gave  us  news  of  his  captain,  that  the 
Indians  had  told  him  that  Sebastian  Cabot  had  been  defeated 
further  up,  and  many  men  killed,and  begged  me  if  I  found  any 
of  them  in  the  places  w'here  I  was  going  to  make  dis- 
coveries, that  I  would  ransom  them  and  he  would  pay  mo 
back  the  price,  and  commended  himself  to  my  mercy,  that  if 
his  captain  was  dead  I  would  not  leave  him  on  the  River,  btt 
take  him  with  me  and  I  should  be  doing  a  service  to  God  and 
Your  Majesty."  I  sailed  from  there  on  Good  Friday  and  in 
twenty-seven  days  I  discovered  as  much  as  Sebastian  Cabot 
in  five  months  and  we  navigated  the  river  as  far  as  St.  Ann 
in  Paraguay.  From  the  harbor  of  San  Espiritu  to  this  place 
is  one  hundred  leagues  and  :t  is  in  the  28th  degree.*  "And 
it  was  up  to  this  place  of  St.  Ann  that  we  discovered  and  Se- 
bastian Cabot  discovered,  and  above  here.  .  .  .f  le  igues  they 
killed  his  first  men  he  had  with  him,  and  they  killed  through 
his   fault  twenty   and  (  or  ?  )    thirty  men,   and   this   was 

.  .  .  .f  We  went  to  them,  and  did  not  see  them  nor  find 
them,  and  this  is  the  truth  that  we  came  as  far  as  this,  he  and 
we." 

Here  he  gives  the  names  of  some  of  the  people  he  met, 
Guaranis,  laanaes,  etc. ;  of  their  customs  he  only  says  what 
they  eat,  "comen  carne,  comen  pescado  e  cane,"  etc.,  and 
asserts  that  these  populations  "dan  nuevas  deste  paraguay  que 
en  el  ay  mucho  oro  e  plata  e  grandes  riquezas  e  piedras  pre- 
ciojas."  And  with  the  record  of  these  riches  his  narrative  ends: 
"y  esto  es  lo  que  sabemos  deste  descubrimiento." 


I 


iifei 


i!r, 


*  Literal  translation  of  the  text.       f  I'ezt  illegible. 


I 


378 


APPENDIX  NO.  W.. 


•,:.vV   \  ■■Vf:-:  .        :.;•■.;-     XXXIX.   ^^'^        •■:   ,,.}:.:,;,,.;■ 

Imcripiion  on  the  chart  of  Sebastian  Cabot  of  15i4,  f^ative  to  his 
exploration  of  la  Plata.  .  * 


Llaman  los  Indies  a  este  gran  Rio  el  Ryo  hurnai,  en  Ca- 
stellan el  Rio  de  la  Plata  toma  este  nombre  del  Rio  hurnai  el 
qua!  es  un  Rio  muy  caudaloso  que  entra  en  el  gran  Rio  de  Pa- 
rana descubriolo  loan  Diaz  de  Solis  piloto  mayor  de  los  catho- 
licos  reyos  de  gloriosa  memoria  y  descubrio  hasta  una  isla  que 
el  dicho  loan  Diaz  puso  nombre  la  isla  de  Martin  Garcia,  por- 
que  en  ella  entierro  un  marinero,  que  se  decia  Martin  Garcia, 
la  qual  dicha  isla  esta  obra  treynta  leguas  arriba  de  la  boca 
deste  Rio  y  coste  le  bien  caro  lo  dicho  descubrimiento,  por- 
que  los  Indios  de  la  dha  tierra  lo  mataron,  y  lo  coraieron,  y 
despues  passados  muchos  Annos  lo  bolvio  ahallar  Sebasti  m 
Caboto  Capitan  y  Piloto  mayor  de  S.  c.  c.  ra.  del  Imperador 
don  Carlos  quinto  deste  nombre,  y  Rey  nuestro  Sennor,  el 
qual  yva  por  Capitan  general  de  una  armada  que  su  majestad 
mando  hazer  para  el  descubrimiento  de  Tarsis,  y  Catayo  Ori- 
ental, el  qua  dho  capitan  Sebastia  Caboto  vino  a  este  Rio  por 
caso  fortuito,  porque  la  nao  capitana  en  que  yva  sele  perdio,  y 
visto  que  no  podia  seguir  el  dho  su  viaie,  accordo  de  descu- 
brir  con  lagente  que  lluava  el  dicho  Rio,  vista  la  gradissima 
relacion,  que  los  Indios  de  la  tierra  le  dieron  de  la  gradissima 
riqueza  de  oro,  y  plata,  que  enla  dha  tierra  avia,  y  no  sin  gra- 
dissiiao  trabaio  y  hambre,  y  peligrcs  asi  de  su  persona  como 
de  los  que  conel  y  van,  y  procuro  el  dho  capitan  de  hazer  cerca 
del  dicho  rio  algunas  poblationes  de  la  gente  que  llevo  de  es- 
pana,  Este  Rio  es  mt  yor  que  nynguno  de  quatos  aca  se  conoscon 
tiene  de  encno  enia  entrada,  que  entra  enla  mar,  veinte  y  cinco 
leguas,  en  ancho  la  causa  de  ser  tan  grade  y  poderoso,  es 
que  entran  enel  otros  muchos  rios  grades  y  caudalos  Es  rio  do 
infinitissimo  pescado,  y  el  meior  que  ay  enel  mundo,le  gente  en 
llegado  aquella  terra  quiso  connoscer  si  era  fertil,  y  apareiada 
para  labrar  y  llevar  pan  y  senbraron  en  el  mes  de  setiembre 


m 


APPENDIX  NO.  40. 


379 


LII  granos  de  tigro  que  no  se  hallo  ma?  enlas  naos  y  cogieron 
luego  enel  mes  de  deziembre  cinqueta,  y  do  mill  granos  de  ti- 
gro, que  esp  misma  fertilitad  se  hallo  entodas  las  otras  seraillas. 
Losq  en  aquella  tierra  biven  dizen  que  no  lexos  de  ay  en  la 
tierra  a  dentro  que  ay  unas  grades  sierras  de  donde  sacan  infin- 
itissimo  oro,  y  que  mas  adelante  enlas  mismassierras,  sacan  in- 
finita  plata.  Ay  en  esta  tierra  unas  aveius  grandes  como  asnos 
comunes,  de  iigura  de  camel  bos,  salvo  que  tienen  lalana  tan 
fina  como  seda,  y  otras  muy  diversas  animales.  Lagcnte  de  la 
dha  tierra  es  muy  discrete  entre  si,  porque  los  quo  biven  enlas 
aldas  de  las  sierras  son  blancos  con.o  nos  otros,  y  los  que  estan 
hazia  la  Ribera  del  Rio,  son  mornos.  Algunos  deDos  dizen  que 
enlas  dhas  sierras  ay  hombres  que  tienen  el  Rostro  como  de 
perro  y  otros  de  la  rodilla  abaxo  como  de  Abestruz  y  que  es- 
tos  son  grandes  trabaiadores,  y  que  cogen  mucho  mays  de  que 
hazen  pan  y  vino  del,  otras  muchas  cosas  dizen  de  aque^a 
tierra  que  no  se  pone  aquy  por  no  ser  prolixas. 


;i!t 


XL. 


Abstract  of  the  summona  made  by  Diego  Garcia  on  Captain  Francis 
.;       de  Rojas,  in  the  name  of  Sebastian  Cabot. 

It  commences  with  Diego  Garcia's  order  to  the  notary  of  his 
squadron  to  proceed  to  deliver  to  Captain  Francis  de  Rojas 
in  person  an  order  of  Sebastian  Cabot.  The  document  is 
dated  at  the  Port  of  St.  Vincent,  Tuesday,  March  22, 1530. 

Next  follows  Sebastian  Cabot's  order.  It  commands  Cap- 
tain Rojas  to  come  on  board  of  the  Santa  Maria  del  Espinar, 
now  the  flag-ship,  "to  be  taken  to  Spain  and  delivered  to  His 
Majesty,  and  to  the  council  of  tbo  Indies,  to  account  for  and 
answer  certain  accusations  that  have  been  made  against  you, 
for  acts  against  His  Majesty's  service  and  mine."  He  was  to 
present  himself  within  six  days,  under  penalty  of  life  and  the 
loss  of  all  his  property;  and,  if  not  obeying,  he  was  to  be 


380 


APPENDIX  Ko.  40. 


held  thenceforth  as  condemned,  and  his  property  confiscated 
for  the  Chambers  and  Treasury  of  His  Majesty.  In  order  thai 
he  should  not  fear  to  present  himself,  he  gave  him  his  failli 
and  word  on  behalf  of  the  King  to  grant  him  any  safe  con- 
duct he  wanted  for  bis  personal  security,  until  delivered  to 
His  Majesty  or  to  the  royal  council  of  the  Indies. 

This  order  bears  the  same  date  as  the  preceding 

Then  comes  the  declaration  of  Diego  Garcia's  notary,  which 
avers  that  he  presented  to  Captain  Francis  de  Rojas  the 
above  order  on  Tuesday,  March  24,  1530,  at  the  house  of 
Gonzalo  da  Costa,  a  Portuguese.  Rojas  answered  that  he 
would  reply  within  the  time  allowed  by  law  ;  the  names  of 
four  witnesses  present  at  the  service  of  the  order,  come  after. 

Next  follows  the  reply  of  Rojas.  It  begins  by  declaring 
that  he  does  not  recognize  Cabot's  authority  over  him,  since 
he  had  long  ago  removed  him  from  his  power  and  juris- 
diction, abandoning  him  in  a  land  of  Infidels  who  eat  human 
flesh,  and  left  him  the  slave  of  an  Indian,  where  he  had 
suffered  much  and  undergone  great  peril.  Now  recalling 
that  Cabot  had  been  the  cause  of  it  all,  he  saw  plainly  that, 
as  before,  so  now  also  he  wanted  to  cause  his  death,  and 
therefore  tried  to  bring  him  by  fraud  into  his  power  in  order 
to  dispose  of  him  at  his  pleasure.  But  he  would  not  second 
his  intentions.  He  wos  ready  to  proceed  to  give  an  accoun', 
of  his  conduct  to  His  Majesty,  but  with  some  one  not  under 
Cabot's  orders,  and  as  he  truly  desired  to  serve  His  Majesty, 
and  has  learned  that  Cabot  left  seventy  to  eighty  men  at  Cape 
St.  Mary,  he  offers  to  go  there  and  take  them  off  as  he  has  a  ship 
built  in  partnership  M'ith  Gonzalo  da  Costa.  But  as  this  ship 
is  not  yet  equipped  he  demands  of  Cabot  all  the  men  and 
supplies  needed  for  fitting  it  out.  On  returning  he  and  they 
will  place  themselves  under  his  command.  And  since  he 
has  been  told  that  at  the  Isle  of  Patos  he  seized  four  Indians 
by  whose  capture  the  whole  land  is  turned  upside  down,  he 
offers  to  take  those  young  men  back  to  their  island. 

Rojas  then  reports  that  the  emperor  had  authorized  all  the 
Captains  and  officers  of  Cabot's  fleet  to  carry  off  two  slaves 
apiece.    And  as  he  has  his  two,  he  demands  that  Cabot  take 


^ 


APPENDIX  NO.  41, 


381 


them  on  bis  ship  and  carry  them  and  deliver  them  to  his 
relatives  in  Spain. 

The  reply  of  Rojas  is  dated  Saturday,  March  26  ;  and  the 
Monday  following,  the  28th,  the  notary  Alonzo  Gomez  Varela 
of  Diego  Garcia's  squadron,  carried  the  reply  to  Cabot.  Cabot 
required  it  to  be  written  in  legal  form  for  presentation  to  His 
Majesty  and  the  Council  of  the  Indies. 


XLI. 


Historia  geral  do  Brazil  .  .  .  por  un  socio  do  Instituto  historico 
do  Brazil,  natural  de  iSorocaba.{F.  Ad  de  Varnhagen.) — Ma- 
drid, 1854.    Tomo  primeiro.  (Bibl.    Nact.    LII-3)  p.  439. 

Carta  de  Simdo  Affonso — de  Sevilla. 

SP'*  en  estou  vesta  cidade  de  sevilha  esperado  reguado  de 
Vosa  Alteza  pa  daqui  hir  a  corte  do  emporador  pedir  execucao 
cotra  joao  frz.  de  crasto  e  sens  bens  se  V.  A.  asi  onner  per  sou 
servi90  por  que  aqui  ja  esta  determinado  q.  se  nao  ha  de  fazer 
sera  o  d.  °  conselho  vir  per  especial  madado  as  justigasdesta  ci- 
dade que  a  facao  segundo  tenho  escrito  a  V.  A.  e  per  nao  ver 
mandado  de  V.  A.  nao  sao  ja  partydo  por  que  sua  justi9a  se 
perde  e  esto  se  dilatar  niadeino  V.  il.  o  que  for  seu  serviso 
porquenao  esperooutra  cousa.  esta  somana  chegou  aqui  hum 
piloto  e  capitao  que  era  hydo  a  descobrir  terra  o  qual  se 
chama  gabote  piloto  mor  destes  reinos  e  he  ho  que  madon  o 
navio  que  veo  ter  a  lixboa  agora  ha  dous  anos  que  trazia 
nova  de  huma  tera  descuberta  polo  rio  Perenai  qui  deziao  ser 
de  muito  ouro  e  prota,  elle  veo  muy  desbaratado  e  pobre  por 
q.  dize  que  nao  tras  ouro  nem  prata  nem  cousa  algua  de  pro- 
veito  aos  armadores  e  deduzentoshomems  que  leuon  nao  tras 
vyte  que  todos  los  outras  dyzen  que  la  ficao  mortos  hums  de 
trabalho  e  fame  outros  de  guera  q.  cos  mouros  tiverao  por  q. 
as  frechadas  dize  q.  matarao  muitos  deles  e  Ihe  desfizerao 
hua  fortaleza  de  madeyra  que  la  tinhao  feyta,  de  maniera  que 


i" 


1 

i 

11 

Pli  I 

ij 

1 

1 1 ,    I 


\s 


382 


APPEXDIX  NO.  42. 


elles  vein  mal  contentes  e  o  piloto  estd  presso  e  dizen  que  queren 
madar  d  corte  ver  o  q.  madao  q.  se  dele  fa9a,  o  q.  disto  pudc 
saber  e  se  aqui  pobrica  aynder  que  muy  paso  ho  que  na  tenu 
que  deziao  ser  descuberto  nao  deixao  nenhum  reguado  saluo 
a  gente  inorta  e  o  gasto  perdido.dizen  com  tudo  estes  homes  quo 
vierao  que  a  terra  he  de  muita  prata  e  ouro  e  a  cauza  perq.  nao 
trazen  nada  he  segundo  dizen  per  que  o  capitao  os  nflo  quis  de- 
ixar  tractare  tanbytu  perque  os  niouros  os  enganarao  e  se  al- 
evanartarao  contreles  disto  podera  V.  A.  creer  o  que  Ihe  parecer, 
da  terra  ficar  deserta  nao  tenha  duvida  orio  dizen  que  he  muy 
grande  e  alto  e  muito  largo,  na  entrada.  se  V.  A.  onner  por  sou 
seruivo  madar  la  agora  o  podera  fazer,  porq.  esta  gente  apartase 
muito  donde  nao  ve  dr.  "  ,  e  se  acerqua  disto  poder  ao  diate 
saber  mais  particularidades  escreuerei  a  V.  A.,  noso  sflr  a  vida  e 
real  estado  d3  V.  A.  conserve  e  acrecente  per  muitos  anos,  de 
sevilhaha  ij  dagosto  de  1530  —  Simao,  doctor. 


XLII. 

1533.  Letter  of  Sebastian  Cabot  to  H.   M's  Secretary  Juan  de 
Samano.  (Seville,  24  of  June). 


E,i>" 


Al  muy  magnifico  senor  el  seHor  Juan  de  Samano  secre- 
tario  de  su  magestad  misefior  en  madrid. 
muy  magnifico  Senor== 
oy  dia  del  bien  aventurado  san  Juan  recebi  una  carta  del 
adelantado  de  canaria  por  la  qual  me  parece  que  todavia  tieno 
gimo  de  toiuar  la  eni)resa  del  rio  de  parana  que  tan  caro  me 
questa  un  criadc  del  dicho  adelantado  ine  dio  la  carta  y  mo 
diyo  que  va  alia  y  lleva  carta  del  dicho  adelantado  para  los 
senores  del  consejo  sobra  la  dicha  enpresa  plega  dies  nuestro 
senor  de  encaminarlc  todc  como  su  santa  fe  catolica  sea  au- 
mentada  y  el  ynperadoi  nuestro  seilor  servido.  Sefior  la  carta 
que  vuestra  rnerced  me  envio  a  mandar  que  yriese  ya  la 


Al'PfiNDIX  NO.  W, 


383 


tengo  acabada  y  dada  al  contador  dela  casa  dcla  contratacion 
para  que  la  envie  la  vuestra  merced  Suplico  a  vuestra  merced 
mo  perdone  por  no  averla  acabado  mas  presto  y  en  verdad 
sino  fuera  por  la  muerto  de  my  hija  y  por  la  dolencia  de  my 
muger  y  mya  dias  ha  que  vuestra  merced  la  huvyera  reeel)id() 
bien  pense  de  llevarla  yo  mismo  (con  otras  dos  que  tengo  fecho 
para  su  magestad)  creo  que  su  magestad  y  los  seiiores  del 
Consejo  quedaran  satisfechos  della  porque  veran  como  se  pu- 
ede  navegar  por  redondo  por  sus  derotas  como  se  ace  por 
una  carta  y  la  causa  porque  nordestea  y  noruestea  la  guja  y 
como  es  for90so  que  lo  "laga  que  tantas  quartas  a  de  nord- 
estePT  y  noruestear  antes  que  torna  abolverce  azia  el  norte  y 
en  que  meridiano  y  con  esto  terra  su  magestad  la  regla  cierta 
para  tomar  la  longitud. 

Senor  suplico  a  vuestra  merced  me  aga  merced  de  escrivir 
&  estos  Seiiores  officiales  dela  casa  dela  contratacion  que  mo 
socorran  con  un  tercio  de  my  salario  adelantado  para  que  me 
pueda  desmpechar  de  a  qui  e  yr  alia  a  besar  las  manos  tie 
vuestra  merced  y  a  ablar  con  los  sefiores  del  Consejo  y  llevarle 
un  criado  mas  que  quedo  enla  carta  del  brasil  el  qual  vino 
con  los  portogueses  que  de  alia  vinieron  para  de  relacion  de 
todo  lo  que  alia  an  fecho  los  Portugueses  y  esto  suplico  a  vuestra 
merced  allende  de  otra  muchas  mercedes  que  de  vuestra  mer- 
ced tengo  recebidas,  nuestro  senor  guarde  la  magnifica  per- 
sona de  vuestra  merced  y  estado  acreciente  como  por  vuestra 
merced  es  deseado  y  vuestro  servidore  desean  y  a  ray  Sefiora 
dona  Juana  boso  la  mano  de  Sevilla  oy  dia  del  bien  aventu- 
rado  San  Juan  del  1533  afios  besa  la  mano  de  vuestra  merced 
su  muy  cierto  servidor=Sebastian  Caboto=hay  una  firma." 

Es  copia  conformfc  con  el  original  de  su  referencia  esistente 
en  este  Archive  Grat  de  India, end.  Ectante  143 — CajonS — 
Legajo  11. 

Sevilla  de  lunio  de  1891. 

El  Archivero-Gefe 

C-lziLO  Simener-Hace. 


4 


if 


•:m 


M 


■I      : 


tuiii 


3b4 


APPENDIX  NO,  48. 


XLIII. 

Extract  from  the  Letter  of  Robert  Thome  to  the  King  of  England, 
Henry  VIll,  in  1527,  inviting  him  to  open  a  way  into  the  northern 
seas  in  order  to  put  himself  in  communication  mth  the  eastern 
lands  of  Cathay. 


Yet  these  dangers  or  darkness  hath  not  letted  the  Span- 
iards and  Portuguese  and  others,  to  discover  many  unknown 
rcahns  to  their  great  peril.  Which  considered  (and  that  your 
( Traces  subjects  may  have  the  same  light)  it  will  seem  your 
Graces  subjects  to  be  without  activity  or  courage,  in  leaving 
to  do  this  glorious  and  noble  enterprise.  For  they  being  past 
this  little  way  which  they  named  so  dangerous,  (which  may 
be  two  or  three  leagues  before  they  come  to  the  Pole,  and  as 
much  more  after  they  pass  the  Pole)  it  is  clear,  that  from 
thenceforth  the  seas  are  as  temperate  as  in  these  parts,  and 
that  then  it  may  be  at  the  will  and  pleasure  of  the  mariners, 
to  choose  whether  they  will  sail  by  the  coasts,  that  be  cold, 
temperate  or  not.  For  they  being  past  the  Pole,  it  is  plain 
they  may  decline  to  what  part  ihoy  list. 

If  theis  will  go  toward  the  Orient,  they  shall  enjoy  the  re- 
gions of  all  the  Tartarians  that  extends  toward  the  midday, 
and  from  thence  they  may  go  and  proc  d  to  the  land  of  the 
Chinese,  and  from  thence  to  the  land  of  Cathaio  Oriental,  which 
is  of  all  the  mainland,  most  Oriental  that  can  be  reckoned  from 
our  habitation.  And  if,  from  thence,  they  do  continue  their 
navigation,  following  the  coasts  that  return  toward  the  Occi- 
dent, they  shall  fall  in  with  Malaca,  and  so  with  all  the  In- 
dies, which  we  call  Oriental,  and  following  the  way,  may  re- 
turn hither  by  the  Cape  of  Buona  Speranza  ;  and  thus  they 
shall  compass  the  whole  world.  And  if  they  will  take  their 
course  after  they  be  past  the  Pole,  toward  'he  Occident,  they 
shall  go  in  the  backside  of  the  Newfoundland,  and  which  of 
late  was  discovered  by  your  Grace's  servants.  And  so  continu- 


APPENDIX*  NO.  43. 


885 


ing  their  voyage,  they  may  return  through  the  strait  of  Ma- 
gellan to  this  country,  and  so  they  compass  also  the  world  by 
that  way  ;  and  if  they  go  this  third  way,  and  after  they  he 
past  the  Pole,  go  right  toward  the  Polo  antarctic,  and  then  de- 
cline towards  the  lands  and  island  situated  between  the  Trop- 
ics, and  under  the  Equinoctial,  without  doubt  they  shall  find 
there  the  richest  lands  and  islands  of  the  World  of  Gold, 
precious  stones,  balnies,  spices,  and  other  things  that  we  here 
esteem  most  which  come  out  of  strange  countries,  and  may 
return  the  same  way. 

By  this  it  appeareth,  your  Grace  hath  not  only  a  great  ad- 
vantage of  the  riches,  but  also  your  subjects  shall  not  travel 
halfo  of  the  way  that  others  do,  which  go  round  about  as 
aforesaid.  ,  t 

To  which  places  there  is  left  one  way  to  discover,  which  is 
into  the  North  ;  for  that  of  the  four  parts  of  the  world,  it  scem- 
eth  three  parts  are  discovered  by  other  princes.  For  out  of 
Spaine  they  have  discovered  all  the  Indies  and  seas  Occiden- 
tal and  out  of  Portugal  all  the  Indies  and  seas  Oriental  :  so 
that  by  this  part  of  the  Orient  and  Occident,  they  have  com- 
passed the  world.  For  the  one  of  them  departing  toward  the 
Orient,  and  the  other  toward  the  Occident,  met  again  in  the 
course  or  way  of  the  midst  of  the  day,  and  so  then  was  discov- 
ered a  great  part  of  the  same  seas  and  coasts  by  the  Spaniards. 
So  that  now  rest  to  be  discovered  the  said  North  parts,  the 
which  it  seemeth  to  me,  is  only  your  charge  and  duty.  Be- 
cause the  situation  of  this  your  realm  ys  thereunto  nearest  and 
aptest  of  all  others  ;  and  also  for  that  you  have  already  taken 
it  in  hand.  And  in  mine  opinion  it  will  not  seem  well  to  leave 
so  great  and  profitable  an  enterprise,  seeing  it  may  so  easily 
and  with  so  little  cost,  labor,  and  danger,  be  followed  and  ob- 
tained, though  heretofore  your  Grace  hath  made  thereof  a 
proofe,  and  found  not  the  commodity  thereby  as  you  trusted,  at 
this  time  it  shall  be  no  impediment.  .,,,,,,,  etc. 

Hakluyt,  vol.  i,  p,  213. 

26 


¥ 


m 


11 


1 

.■    i 
.;;  I. 


!w./i 


386 


APPENDIX  NO.  41 


XLIV. 

Extract  from,  the  Leti'v  of  Robert  Thome  to  D.  Ley,  Ambassador  of 
Henry  VIII  in  Spain,  in  regard  to  the  neic  lands  discovered  in  tin- 
West  Indies. 


y 


For  out  of  Spaine  they  have  discovered  all  the 

Indies  and  jeas  Occidental,  and  out  of  Portugule  all  the  Ind- 
ies and  seas  Oriental  ....  so  that  nowe  rest  to  bee  discov- 
ered the  said  North  partes,  the  which  it  seemeth  to  moo  is 
onely  your  charge  and  dutie.  Because  the  situation  of  tliis 
your  Realme  is  thereunto  neerest  and  aptest  of  all  other : 
and  also  for  that  you  have  alreadie  taken  it  in  hande,  and 
in  mine  opinion,  it  will  not  seeme  well  to  leave  so  great  and 

profitable   an  enterprise Though,  heretofore,    your 

Grace  hath  made  thereof  a  proofs,  and  found  not  the  coiu- 
moditie  thereby  as  you  trusted,  at  this  time  it  shall  beo  no 
impediment.  Fore  there  may  bee  nowe  provided  remedies 
....  and  lettes  remooved  that  then  were  cause  your  Grace's 
desire  tooke  no  full  effect,  which  is,  the  courses  to  be 
chaunged,  and  followe  the  aforesaid  new  courses. 

And  nowe  to  declare  some  thing it  yS  very  cleero 

and  certaine  that  the  seas  that  commonly  men  say  that  w  itli- 
out  great  danger,  difhcultie,  and  perill,  yea,  rather,  it  is  im- 
possible to  passe,  those  same  seas  bee  navigable,  and  vathoul 

any  such  daunger  but  that  shippes  may  passe For 

they  {your  Grace's  Siibiects),  being  past  this  little  wjiy 
which  they  named  so  dangerous,  which  may  bee  ii  or  iii 
leagues  before  they  come  to  y«  Pole,  and  as  much  more  after 
they  passe  the  Pole,  it  is  cleere  that  from  thence  foorth  tlio 
seas  and  Landes  are  as  temperat  as  in  these  partes,  and  tliat 
then  it  may  be  at  the  will  and  pleasure  of  the  mariners  to 
choose  whither  they  will  saile  ....  For  they  being  past  the 
Pole,  it  is  plaine  they  maye  decline  to  what  parte  they  list.  It 
tfiey  will  goe  towarde  the  Orient  they  shall  inioy  the  regions 
of  all  the  Tartarians from  thence to  the  land  of 


AI'PENDIX  NO.  45. 


387 


y"  Chinas  ...  of  Oathaio  oriental Andif  thoy  will  take 

thoir  course  aftf^r  they  be  past  the  polo  towarde  the  Occident, 
thoy  shall  goo  in  the  backe  side  of  the  new  found  lande,  which 
of  late  was  discovered  by  your  Grace's  subioctes,  untill  thoy 
come  to  the  backside  and  South  seas  of  the  Indies  occidcai- 
tall.  And  so  continuing  thoir  viago,  they  may  returne  thorowe 
the  Straite  of  Magallanos  to  this  countrey  ....  and  if  thoy 
goe  this  thirde  way,  and  after  they  bee  past  the  pole,  goe 
right  towarde  the  pole  Antartike,  and  then  decline  toward 
the  lands  and  Hands  situated  botweene  the  Tropikes  and  un- 
der the  Equinoctial.. ..and  may  returne  the  same  way."*  Hak- 
luyt,  I.  243. 


XLV.  

Pension  given  by  Edward  VI  to  Sebastian  Cahot 

Edwardus  sextus  Dei  gratia  Anglijc,  Francia),  et  Hibernifc  rex 
omnibus  Christi  fidelibus  ad  quos  praesentes  hae  litorae  nostrae 
porvenerint,  salutem.  Sciatis  quod  nosiuconsideratione  boni 
et  acceptabilis  servitij,  nobis  per  dilectum  servientem  nostrum 
Sebastianum  Cabotam  impeusi  atque  impendendi,  de  gratia 
nostra  spaciali,  ac  ex  corta  scieutia,  et  mero  motu  nostro,  nee 
non  de  advisamento,  et  consensu  praeclarissimi  avunculi 
nostri  Edwardi  Ducis  Somerseti  personae  nostrae  Guberna- 
toris,  ac  Regnorum,  dominiorum  subditorumque  nostroruin 
protectoris,  et  caeterorum  consiliariorum  nostrorum,  dedimus 
et  concessimus,  ac  per  praesentes  damus  et  concedimus  ei(!om 
Sebastiano  Cabotae,  quandam  annuitatem  sive  annalom 
reditum  eidem  Sebastiano  Cabotae,  durante  vita  sua  naturali, 
de  thesauro  nostro  ad  receptum  scacarij  nostri  Westmonasterij 
per  manus  thesaurariorum  et  Camerariorum  nostrorum, 
ibidem  pro  tempore  existentium,  ad  festa  annuntiationis  be- 
aiae  Mariae   Virginis,  nativitatis  sancti  Joannis  Baptistae, 


T'l;,' 


*  Robert  Thorne  supposed,  liko  many  others,  that  the  polar  seas  were  as 
easily  uavigable  as  our  own. 


388 


ATPENl  IX  NO.  46. 


sancti  MichaeJia  Archangeli,  et  Natalis  Domini  per  aequales 
portiones  solvendiun.  Et  ulterius  de  uberiori  gratia  nostra,  ac 
de  advisamento,  et  consensu  praedictis  damns,  et  per  praesen- 
tea  coneedimus  praefato  Sebastiano  Cabotae,  tot  et  tarta.*  Den- 
ariorum  summas,adquotet  quantas  dicta  anniiitassive  aiinalis 
reditus  centum  sexaginta  sex  librarum,  tresdecim  solidorum, 
et  quatuor  denariorum,  a  festo  sancti  Michaelis  Archangeli 
ultimo  praeterito  hue  usque  se  extendit,  etattingit,  habendus 
et  recipiendas  praefato  Sebrstiano  Cabotae  et  assignatis  suis  dc 
thesauro  nostro  praedicto  per  manus  praedictorum  Thesaura- 
riorum,  et  Camerariorum  nostrorum  de  dono  nostro  absque 
computo,  seu  aliquo  alio  nobis,  haeredibus,  vel  successor]  bus 
nostris  proinde  reddendo,  solvendo,  vel  faciendo  :  eo  quod 
expressa  mentio,  etc.  In  cuius  rei  testimonium  etc.  Teste 
Rege,  apud  Westraonasterium  6  die  Januarij,  anno  2.  Regis 
Edwardi  sexti."  Hakluyt,  III,  31.  Ed.  1600. 


Dispaichea  of  the   English   Avibassadors  on  the  request  for  Se- 
bastian Cabot's  return  to  Spain. 

25  Nov.  1549. 

And  farther  where  as  one  Sebastian  Gaboto  general  p[ilot] 
of  the  emperours  Indias  is  presently  in  England  forasmuch 
as  he  cannot  stand  the  King  your  Mr.  in  any  greate  [stead] 
seing  he  hath  smale  practise  in  these  sees  and  is  a  v  [eric] 
necessary  man  for  the  emperour  whose  servaunt  he  is  [and] 
hath  a  pcncion  of  hym  his  ma"*'  desyreth  sume  ordre[to]  be 
taken  for  his  sendir  g  over  in  suche  sorte  as  his  [ma'''^]  Ani- 
bassadour  shall  at  better  length  declare  unto  the  king  your 
Mr'**  counsell. 

[Cotton  M.  Galba  B.  XII,  fo.  124.  Despatch  from  sir  Thop 
Cheyne  and  sir  Phil.  Hoby,  English  ambassadors  to  Charles 
Vt  to  the  Privy  Council.     Brussels,  25  no  v.  1549]. 


HllS 


III!'! 


AtPENPIX  NO.  47 


380 


lequak's 
ostra,  ac 
praesoii- 
ta,5  Den- 
i  annalis 
lidorum, 
changeli 
labendus 
is  suis  (Ic 
hesaura- 
D  absque 
jssori  l)us 
eo  quod 
'..      Teste 
2.  Regis 


t  for  /Se- 


rai p[ilot] 
3rasmuch 
te  [stead] 
I  V  [erie] 
is  [and] 
re[to]  bo 
^UB-j   Am- 

cing  your 

I  sir  Thos 
o  Charles 


XLVII. 

Reply  of  the  English  Ministers  to  the  request  to  send  back  Cabot. 

And  as  for  Sebastian  Cabot  ansvvere  was  first  made  to  tho 
said  Arab.""'  that  he  was  not  deteined  heere  by  us,  but  that  he 
of  himself  refused  to  go  either  into  Spayne  or  to  tne  enip"'', 
and  that  he  being  of  that  mind  and  the  kinges  subiecte,  no 
reason  nor  equitie  vvolde  that  lie  sliulde  be  forced  or  com- 
pelled to  go  against  his  will.  Upon  the  w*'''  aunswere,  the 
said  Am'^"'^  said  that  if  this  were  Cabottes  aunswere  then  he 
required  that  the  said  Cabot  in  the  presence  of  some  one 
whom  we  could  appointe  might  spek  with  the  said  Amb^°' 
and  declare  unto  him  this  to  be  his  mind  and  aunswere  wher- 
unto  we  condescended,  and  at  the  last,  sent  the  said  Cabot 
w*  Richard  Shelley  to  thembassador.  Who  as  the  said 
Shelley  hathe  made  report  to  us,  affirmed  to  the  said  Amb**"' 
that  he  was  not  minded  to  go  neither  into  Spayne  nor  to 
ftiemp  *"■  Nevertheles  having  knowlege,  of  certain  thinges 
verie  necessarie  for  the  Emp°™  kiiowlege,  he  was  well  conten- 
ted for  the  good  well  he  here  tnemp"''  to  write  his  mind  unto 
him,  or  declare  the  same  here  to  enie  such  as  shulde  be  ap- 
pointed to  heare  him.  Wherunto  the  said  amb^'^''  asked  the 
said  Cabot,  in  case  the  kinges  ma"«  or  we  shuld  command 
him  to  go  to  themp"'  whether  then  he  wold  not  do  it  ?  Wher- 
unto Cabot  made  aunswere  as  Shelley  reportethe  that  if  the 
kinges  highnes  or  we  did  command  him  so  to  do,  then  he 
knew  wel  moughe  what  he  had  to  do.  But  it  semeth  that 
the  amb-Jo'  tooke  this  autibwere  of  Cabot  to  sound  as 
though  Cabot  had  aunswered,  that  being  commanded  by 
the  Kinges  highnes«or  us  that  then  he  wolde  be  contented  to 
go  to  the  emp*"^  wherin  we  reken  tho  said  Am V^"^  to  be  deceived, 
forthat  the  said  Cabot  had  divers  times  before  declared  unto 
us  twat  he  was  fullie  (?  3termined  not  to  go  hens  at  all. 
Grenewich,  21  april  1550.  The  counsail  to  sir  Ph.  H. 
[British  Museum,  Harleyan  Mss.  523  f.  q.] 


Mill 


• 


390 


APPENDIX  MO.  49/ 


Letter  of  Charles  V  to  Mary  Tudor  for  Sebastian  dbot^a  return. 

Tres  haulte  tres  excellente  et  tres  puissaute  princesse  nostre 
tres  chiere  et  tres  amee  bonne  seur  et  cousine.  Pour  ce  que  de- 
sirerions  communiquer  aucuns  affaires  concernans  la  sheurete 
de  la  navigation  de  noz  Royaulmes  et  pays  avee  le  capitaine 
cabote  cidevant  pilote  de  noz  Royaulmes  de  Spaignes,  et  le 
quel  de  nostre  gre  et  consentement  sest  puis  ancune  annees 
passe  en  AngleteiTe  nous  vous  requerons  bien  afFectueuse- 
mente,  donner  conge  audit  cabote  et  luy  permecter  venir  de- 
vers  nous,  pour  avec  lui  communiquer  sur  ce  que  dessus.  Et 
vous  ferez  en  ce  tres  agreable  plesir  selon  qu'avons  en  cbargo 
a  nos  ambassadeurs  devers  vous  le  vous  declarer  plus  particu- 
lierement.  Atanl  tres  haulte  tres  excellente  et  tres  puissaute 
princesse  nre.  chiere  et  tres  amee  bonne  seur  et  cousine  nous 
prions  le  createur  vous  avoir  en  sa  tres  saincte  et  digne  garde. 
A  Mons  en  Haynnau  le  IX "  de  septembre  1553. 
vre  bon  frere  et  cousin  Charles 

Baue 

A  tres  haulte  tres  excellente  et  tres  puissaute  princesse  nre. 
tres  chiere  et  tres  amee  bonne  seur  et  cousine  la  Royne  dan- 
gleterre. 

M.  W.  B.  TurnbuU,  Foreign  Calendars,  1553-58,  t.  i,  No. 
31,  p.  10. 


•   ■      ;^  \    xLix.  :  r:-../r^.:.:>.'7^y.'l... 

Dispatch  of  the  Council  of  Ten  to  James  Soranzo,  Vendian  And)as- 
sador  to  England,  as  tc  tlie  manner  of  sending  Sebastian  Cabot  to 
Venice,  12  September  1551. 

Per  le  lettere  vostre  de'  17  del  mese  passato  indriciate  alii 
Capi  del  Consiglio  nostro  di  Dieci,  havemo  inteso  quello  cho  vi 
e  occorso  di  avvisarne  in  materia  del  fedelissirao  nostro  Seba- 


APPENDIX  NO.  50. 


391 


"1 


stiano  Gaboto,  il  che  mi  e  stato  niolto  grato,  et  vi  laudamo 
della  diligentia  che  avete  usato  in  darne  particolar  infor- 
matione  delle  qualitd.  et  conditioni  soe  :  in  risposta  delle  quali 
vi  dicemo  che  li  dobbiate  far  intendere  che  questa  sua  offerta 
ue  e  stata  gratissima,  usandole  quelle  bone  parole  che  vi  pare- 
rano  per  la  prudentia  vostra  ;  et  quanto  alia  richiesta  che  vi 
e  stata  fata  da  quel  signori  circa  li  crediti  che  pretende  et 
ricuperatione  de  beni,  li  risponderete  che  noi  desiderarao  in 
tutto  quello  che  potemo  far  cosa  grata  a  aquella  Maest^,  ed 
a  loro  Signorie,  ma  che  noii  essendo  il  detto  Caboto  co- 
nosciuto  da  alcuno  de  qui,  saria  neccessario  che  esso  medesimo 
venisse  per  giustificare  la  sua  persona  et  le  ragion  sue,  essendo 
quelle  cose  di  che  si  parla  molto  vecchie,  e  questo  istesso 
havemo  risposto  al  Magnifico  Ambasciator  di  quella  Maest^, 
il  quale  di  cio  ne  ha  fatto  inatantia  in  conformity,  delle  lettere 
vostre,  pero  anchora  ed  esso  Gaboto  farete  intender  il  tutto. 
Con  questa  occasione  possa  dimandare  et  ottenere  la  licentia 
di  venire,  la  quale  vederete,  che  il  procuri  di  avere,  trasferen- 
dopi  di  qui  quanto  piu  presto  potrA,  ne  restarete  pero  in  questo 
mezo  di  sforzarvi  di  intendere  da  lui  piu  avanti  quel  maggior 
particolari  che  potrete  dir,  e  il  disegno  suo  di  questa  naviga- 
tione,  dando  del  tutto  particolare  notitia  alii  capi 
+  25—2—0  \ 

[Archivio  di  Stato,  Venezia,  Consiglio  dei  Dieci,  Parti  Se- 
crete, Filza  N.  8,  1551-54]. 


Dispatch  of  Peter  Vannea^  Ambassador  of  England  to  Venice,  on 
the  recommendations  in  favor  of  Sebastian  Cabot.         ' 

To  the  Council 
....  Touching  Sebastian  Cabot's  matter,  concerning  which 
the  Venetian  Ambassador  has  also  written,  he  has  recom- 
manded  the  same  to  the  Seigniory,  and  in  their  presence  deli- 
vered to  one  of  their  secretaries   Baptista  Ramusio,  whom 


392 


At>PENDtX  UO.  61. 


cabot  put  in  trust,  such  evidences  as  came  to  his  ands.  The 
Seigniory  were  well  pleased  that  one  of  their  subjects  by  serv- 
ice and  virtue  should  deserve  the  Councils  good  will  and  fa- 
vour ;  and  although  this  matter  is  about  50  yars  old,  and  by 
the  death  of  men,  decaying  of  houses  and  perishing  of  writings, 
as  well  as  his  own  absence  it  were  hard  to  come  to  any  as- 
sured knowledge  thereof,  they  have  commanded  Ramusio  to 
eansearch  with  diligence  any  way  and  knowledge  possible 
that  may  stand  to  the  said  Sebastian's  profit  and  obtaining  of 
right. 

M.  W."*  B.  Turnbull,  [  Foreign  Calendar,  dra,  1861,  p.  171, 
N.  444].      . 


■-^  LI.    -':  •.,:-...,  ■  - 

Extract  from  the  Narrative  of  Ramusio^ s  second  Anonymous  on  the 
Voyages  to  the  North- East  seas. 

Si  aveva  raesso  in  fantasia  Sebastiano  Cabota  inglese,  nato 
di  padre  venetiano,  instrutto  prima  da  Giovanni  Caboto  suo 
padre,  e  molti  anni  col  pensier  discorso  haveva,  poter  essere 
die  qualche  passo  fosse  nel  mar  settentrionale,  per  il  quale  o 
di  verso  Levante  o  di  verso  Ponente  con  breve  navigatione  e 
facile  da  queste  nostre  parti  nel  grande  Oceano  Indico  passarc 
si  potesse,  purche  dall'oppositione  di  qualche  terra  incognita 
osso  passo  impedito  non  fosse,  persuaso  ad  immaginarsi  questa 
cosa  cosi  dal  testimonio  d'  alcuni  author!  antiqui,  come  dall'- 
esperienza  de'  molti  moderni.  Gli  argomenti  die  movevano 
et  il  padre  et  il  figliuolo  a  credere,  che  questo  esser  potesse, 
erano  che  Plinio  servendosi  del  testimonio  di  Cornelio  Nepote 
scri  ve  che  dal  Re  di  Svetia  furon  donati  a  Metello  Celere  procon- 
sole  dolla  Gallia,  alcuni  mercadanti  Indiani,  che  erano  da  foi- 
tuna  marittima  stati  trasportati  da'  lor  paesi  ne'  liti  di  Svetia. 
Dicono  ancora  trovasse  scritto,  che  a'  tempi  di  Ottone  Impe- 
ratore  fu  presa  nel  mar  settentrionale  Germanico  una  certa 
nave,  che  di  Levante  dalla  forza  de'  contrari  veiiti  vi  erastata 
portata-  II  che  (  come  essi  afFermano  )  a  modo  alcuno  far  non 


APPlJNblX  NO.  53. 


S9S 


SI  saria  potuto,  se  quel  mare  settentrionale  fosse  per  cagione  do' 
gran  freddi  e  ghiacci  semper  innavigabile.  Uii  altro  argo- 
mento  ancora  havevano  ;  che  oltre  il  mar  Indico,  il  golfo  Gan- 
getico,  I'Aurea  Chersoneso,  over  Malacha,  e  la  provincia 
de  Sina,  et  oltra  le  navigationi  de'  Moderni,  sapevano  di  eerto, 
che  questo  mare  Indico  era  posto  in  lungliezza  quasi  nel 
grado  180  et  in  larghezza  nel  25  grado,  poco  di  la  del  meri- 
diano  di  Tartaria,  e  dell'amplissimo  imperio  del  Cathai  (qua! 
da  naviganti  e  cercato,  come  scopo  e  premio  delle  fatiche  lore) 
e  considerando  come  e  quanto  questo  gran  mar  delle  Indie  si 
andasse  ogni  hor  piu  sotto  questo  meridiano  ingolfando  e  pie- 
gando  verso  settentrione,  non  con  legger  coniettura,  ne  senza 
ragione  ( essendo  che  le  cose  incognite  possono  essere  cosi 
false  come  vere)  giudicavano  esser  verisimile,  che  se  il 
mar  nostro  settentrionale  o  di  verso  levante  o  di  verso  ponente 
si  distendesse  alia  volta  di  Mezo  giorno  se  particolarmente 
sotto  quell'istesso  meridiano,  sotto  il  quale  il  mar  Indico  verso 
settentrione  si  piega,  che  facilmente  sotto  1'  istesso  meridiano 

col  mar  d'  India  congiungere  si  potrebbe Questi  sono 

i  principali  argomenti,  ne'  quali  Sebastiano  Cabota  confida- 
tosi,  persuase  agli  huomini  di  questi  paesi,  di  potersene  passare 
dal  mar  settentrionale  dalla  banda  di  Levante  (perciocche 
quella  di  Ponente  havevano  indarno  et  esso  et  il  padre  cer- 
cata  )  facilmente  et  in  curto  tempo  nell'  India  Orientale,  o 
almeno  di  giungere  nel  regno  del  Cathai,  di  dove  sperava 
ritornare  carico  di  oro,  di  gioie  e  di  speziarie. 

Ramusio,  2."  Ediz.,  Venezia,  1606,  presso  i  Giunti.  vol.  ii, 
p.  212.  ^' .-.,,''■  ^    ■• 


11 


I'm 


if-!;,;; 

■ '  f  ,''3 ' 


m 


i::i!4 


v\y. 


m 


illl 

(liii 


LII. 


Extract  from  Lanquefs  Chronicle  on  the  Voyage  of  1 553  to  the 

North-East. 

In  this  meane  whyle  there  were  three  noble  shyppea 
furnyshed  for  the  great  adventure  of  the  unknown  viage  into 
the  easte  by  the  north  seas.  The  great  encourager  of  this 


I 


394 


APPENDIX  NO.  54. 


viage  was  Sebastian  Gaboto,  an  englisheman,  borne  at  Bris- 
tow,  but  a  Genoways  sonne.  These  shyps  dyd  shortly  after 
passe  gallantly  by  Grenewiche  in  the  kinges  presence,  one  of 
the  mariners  Standyng  upon  the  mayne  topmaste  of  one  of 
them." 

[Lanquet,  Cooper  et  Crowley.  An  Epitome  of  cronicles,  Lon- 
don, Thomas  Marshe,  1559,  sub  anno  1553] . 


■     LiiL  ^./Vv:;':-"", 

Extract  from  Grafton's  Chronicle  on  the  same  Voyage. 

About  this  time  there  were  three  noble  ships  set  forth  and 
furnished  for  the  great  adventure  of  the  unknowne  voyage  in- 
to the  East,  by  the  North  seas.  The  great  doer  and  encour- 
ager  of  which  voyage  was  Sebastian  Gaboto  an  Englishe  man, 
borne  at  Bristow,  but  was  the  sonne  of  a  Genoway.  These 
shipes  at  the  last  arrived  in  the  country  of  Muscovia,  not  with- 
out great  losse  and  danger,  and  namely  of  their  captain,  who 
was  a  worthy  and  adventerous  gentlema  called  sir  Hugh 
Willoughby,  Knight,  who  beyng  tossed  and  driven  by  tem- 
pest, bee  was  at  the  last  found  in  his  ship  frozen  to  death 
and  all  his  people.  But  now  the  said  voyage  and  trade  is 
greatly  advanced. .  *  '^  ■  «  ■  ■ 
[Grafton,  A  Chronicle  at  large,  London,  1569,  sub  anno  1553.] 


LIV. 

Extract  from  Holinshed's  Chronide  on  the  sam^  Voyage. 


Edward  VI 
An.  Reg.  6 


About  this  time  there  were  three  notable  ships 
set  forth  and  furnished  for  the  great  adventure  of 
the  unknowne  voyage  into  the  east  by  the  north  seas.  The 
great  doer  and  encourager  of  which  voiage  was  Sebastian 


«i< 


APPENDIX  NO.  56 


395 


Gaboto  an  Englishma  born  at  Bristow,  but  was  the  son  of  a 
Genowaies.  These  ships  at  the  last  arrived  in  the  countrie  of 
Moscovia  not  without  greai  losse  and  danger,  and  namely  of 
their  captaine,  who  was  a  worthie  and  adventurous  gentleman 
called  sir  Hugh  Willoughby  knight  who  being  tossed  and 
driven  by  tempest,  lie  was  at  the  last  founde  in  his  ship 
frosen  to  death  and  all  his  people.  But  now  the  sayde  voy- 
age and  trade  is  greatly  advanced  .     . 

[Holinshed,  The  Chronicles  of  Englande,  Scoilande,  and 
Irelande,  London,  1557,  t.  ii,  p.  1714,  sub  anno  1553] . 


I.V. 


Extract  from  John  Siow's  Chronicle  on  the  same  Voyage. 


Edward  VI 
A.  D.   1553 


The  twentith  of  May,  by  the  encouragement  of 
one  Sebastian  Cabotte  three  great  ships  wel  furni- 
shed were  sette  forthn  for  the  adventure  of  the  unknown  voy- 
age to  Muscovia,  and  other  easte  partes  by  the  North  seas, 
divers  merchants  and  other  being  free  of  that  voyage,  yeelded 
towards  the  charges  of  the  same  five  and  twentie  pounds 
apeece.  Sir  George  Barnes  and  Sir  William  Garrard  being 
y^  principal  doers  therein. 

[Stow.  Chronicle,  Lond.  1580,  p.  1057].  ^  ;     f  ; 


LVI 


Cahofs  Instructions. 

Ordinances,  instructions,  and  advertisements  of  and  for 
the  direction  of  the  intended  voyage  for  Cathay,  compiled, 
made  and  delivered  by  the  right  worshipfull  M.  Sebastian 
Cabota  Esquier  governour  of  the  mysterie  and  companie  of 
the  Marchants  adventurers  for  the  discoverie  of  Regions, 


:! 


.196 


Appenmx  no.  Sfl. 


Dominions,  Islands  and  placoeunknowen,  the  9.  day  of  May, 
in  the  yerc  of  Lord  God  1553  and  in  the  7.  yeere  of  tlie 
rcigno  of  our  most  dread  soveraigne  Lord  Edward  the  G  by 
the  grace  of  God,  king  of  England,  Fraunee  and  Ireland, 
defender  of  the  faith,  and  of  the  Church  of  England  and  Ire- 
land, in  earth  supreamo  head. 

First  the  Captaine  general,  with  the  pilot  maior,  the 
masters,  marchants  and  other  officers,  to  be  so  knit  and  ac- 
corded in  unitie,  love,  conformitie,  and  obedience  in  everj^ 
degree  on  all  sides,  that  no  dissention,  variance,  or  contention 
may  rise  or  spring  betwixt  them  and  the  mariners  of  this 
companie,  to  the  damage  or  hinderance  of  the  voyage :  for 
that  dissention  (by  many  experiences)  hath  overthrown  many 
notable  intended  and  likely  enterprises  and  exploits. 

2  Item,  for  as  much  as  every  person  hath  given  an  othe  to 
be  true,  faithfull,  and  loial  subjects,  and  liege  men  to  the 
kings  most  excellent  Maiestie,  his  heijjes  and  successors,  and 
for  the  observation  of  all  lawes  and  statutes,  made  for  the 
preservation  of  his  most  excellent  Maiestie,  and  his  crown 
Imperiall  of  his  realmes  of  England  and  Ireland,  and  to 
serve  his  Grace,  the  Realme,  and  this  present  A^oyage  truely, 
and  not  to  give  up,  intermit  or  leave  otF  the  said  voyage  and 
enterprise  untill  it  shalbe  accomplished,  so  farre  forth  as  pos- 
sibilitie  and  life  of  man  may  serve  or  extend  :  Therfore  it 
behoveth  every  person  in  his  degree,  as  well  for  conscience, 
as  for  dueties  sake  to  remember  his  said  charge,  and  the  ac- 
complishment thereof. 

3  Item,  where  furthermore  every  mariner  or  passenger  in 
his  ship  hath  given  like  othe  to  bee  obedient,  to  the  Captaine 
generall,  and  to  every  Captaine  and  master  in  his  ship,  for  the 
observation  of  these  present  orders  contained  in  this  booke, 
and  all  other  which  hereafter  shalbe  made  by  the  12  coun- 
sailers  in  the  present  book  named,  or  the  most  part  of  them, 
for  the  better  conduction,  and  preservation  of  the  fleete,  and 
atchieving  of  the  voyage,  and  to  be  prompt,  ready  and 
obedient  in  all  acts  and  feates  of  honesty,  reason,  and  duetic 
to  be  ministred,  shewed  and  executed,  in  advancement 
and  preferment  of  the  voyage  and  exploit  :  therefore  it  is 


APPENDIX  NO.  56. 


397 


convenient  that  this  present  booke  shall  once  every  wcckc 
(  by  the  discretion  of  the  Captaine  )  be  read  to  the  said  coin- 
pnnie,  to  the  intent  that  every  man  may  the  better  remember 
his  othe,  conscience,  duetie  and  charge. 

4  Item,  every  person  by  vertue  of  his  othe,  to  doe  eflectu- 
ally  and  with  good  wil  ( as  farre  forth  as  him  shall  compile  ) 
all  and  every  such  act  and  acts,  deede  or  deeds,  as  shalbc  to 
him  or  them  from  time  to  time  commanded,  committed  and 
cnioyned  (during  the  voyage  )by  the  Captain  generall,  with 
the  assent  of  the  Counsell  and  assistants,  as  well  in  and  dur- 
ing the  whole  Navigation  and  voyage,  as  also  in  discovering 
and  landing,  as  cases  and  occasions  shall  require. 

5  Item,  all  courses  in  Navigation  to  be  set  and  kept,  by  the 
advice  of  the  Captaine  Pilot  maior,  masters,  and  master 
mates,  with  the  assents  of  the  counsailers  and  the  most  num- 
ber of  them  and  in  voyccs  uniform ely  agreeing  in  one  to  pre- 
vaile,  and  take  place,  so  that  the  Captaine  generall,  shall  in 
all  counsailes  and  assemblies  have  a  double  voyce. 

6  Item,  that  the  fleete  shall  keep  together,  and  not  sepa- 
rate themselves  asunder,  as  much  as  by  winde  and  weather 
may  be  done  or  permitted,  and  that  the  Captainos,  Pilots  and 
masters  shall  speedily  come  aboord  the  Admiral,  when  and  as 
often  as  he  shall  seeme  to  have  iust  cause  to  assembleo  them 
for  counsaile  or  consultation  to  be  had  concerning  the  affaires 
of  the  fleets  and  voyage. 

7  Item,  that  the  marcbants,  and  other  skilful  persons  in 
writing,  shal  daily  write,  describe,  and  put  in  memorie  the  Na- 
vigation of  every  day  and  night,  with  the  points,  ond  obser- 
vation of  the  lands,  tides,  elements,  altitude  of  the  sunne, 
course  of  the  moon  and  starres,  and  the  same  so  noted  by  the 
order  of  the  Master  and  pilot  of  ever  ship  to  be  put  in  writ- 
ing the  captaine  generall  assembling  the  masters  together 
once  every  weeke  (if  winde  and  weather  shal  serve)  to 
conferre  all  the  observations  and  notes  of  the  said  ships,  to 
the  intent  it  may  appeare  wherein  the  notes  do  agree,  and 
wherein  they  dissent,  and  upon  good  debatement,  delibera- 
tion and  conclusion  determined,  to  put  the  same  into  a  com- 
mon leger,  to  remain  of  record  for  the  company:  the  like 


m 


m 


I  ',' 


398 


APPENDIX  NO.  56. 


order  to  be  kept  in  proportioning  of  the  Gardes,  Astrolnhes, 
and  otlier  instruments  prepared  for  the  voyage,  at  the  charge 
of  the  companie. 

8  Item,  tliat  all  enterprises  and  exploits  of  discovering  or 
landing  to  search  lies,  regions  and  such  like,  to  be  searched 
and  attempted,  and  enterprised  by  good  deliberation  and 
common  assent,  determined  advisedly.  And  that  in  all  en- 
terprises, notable  ambassages,  suites,  requests,  or  presentement 
of  giftes,  or  presents  to  Princes,  to  be  done  and  executed 
by  the  captaine  generall  in  person,  or  by  such  other,  as  ho  by 
common  assent  shall  appoint  or  assigne  to  doe  or  cause  to  be 
done  in  the  same. 

9  Item,  the  steward  and  cooke  of  every  ship,  and  their 
associats,  to  give  and  render  to  the  captaine  and  other  head 
officers  of  their  shippe  weekely  (or  oftner),  if  it  shall  seeme 
requisite,  a  iust  or  ph  ine  and  perfect  accompt  of  expense, 
of  the  victuals,  as  wel  flesh,  fish,  bisket,  raeate,  or  bread 
as  also  of  beere,  wine,  oyle  or  vineger,  and  all  other  kinde 
of  victualling  under  their  charge,  and  they,  and  every  of 
them  so  to  order  and  dispende  the  same,  that  no  waste  or  un- 
profitable excesse  be  made  otherwise  then  reason  and  ne- 
cessitie  shall  command. 

10  Item,  when  any  inferiour  or  meane  officer  of  what  degree 
or  condition  he  shalbe,  shalbe  tried  untrue,  remisse,  negligent, 
or  unprofitable  in  or  about  his  office  in  the  voyage,  or  not  to 
use  him  selfe  in  his  charge  accordingly,  then  every  such 
officer  to  be  punished  or  removed  at  the  discretion  of  the 
captaine  and  assistants,  or  the  most  part  of  them,  and  the 
person  so  removed  not  to  be  reputed,  accepted,  or  taken  from 
the  time  of  his  remove,  any  more  for  an  officer,  but  to  remaiue 
in  such  condition  and  place,  as  hea  shall  be  assigned  unto, 
and  none  of  the  companie,  to  resist  such  chastisement  or 
wortiiie  punishment,  as  shalbe  ministred  unto  him  moderately, 
according  to  the  fault  or  desert  of  his  offence,  after  the  lawes 
and  common  customes  of  the  seas,  in  such  cases  heretofore 
used  and  observed. 

11  Item,  if  any  Mariner  or  officer  inferiour  shalbe  found  by 
his  labour  not  meete  nor  worthie  the  place  that  he  is  presently 


^^ 


APPENDIX  NO.  66. 


399 


shipped  for,  such  person  may  bee  unshipped  and  put  on 
lande  at  any  place  within  the  kings  Muiesties  reahne  and  do- 
minion, and  one  other  person  more  able  and  more  worthy  to 
be  put  in  his  place,  at  the  decretion  of  the  captaine  and  mas- 
ters, and  order  to  be  taken  that  the  portic  dismissed  shalbo 
allowed  proportionably  the  value  of  that  he  shall  have 
deserved  to  the  time  of  his  dismission  or  discharge,  and  ho  to 
give  order  with  sureties,  pawn,  or  other  assurance,  to  re- 
pay the  overplus  of  that  he  shall  have  received,  which 
he  shall  not  have  deserved,  and  such  wages  to  be  made  with 
the  partio  newly  placed  as  shalbe  thought  reasonable, 
and  he  to  have  the  furniture  of  al  such  necessaries  as  were 
prepared  for  the  partie  dismissed,  according  to  right  and 
conscience. 

12  Item,  that  no  blaspheming  of  God,  or  detestable  swea- 
ring be  used  in  any  ship,  nor  communication  of  ribaldrio, 
filthy  tales,  or  ungodly  talke  to  be  suffred  in  the  company  of 
any  ship,  neither  dicing,  carding,  tabling,  nor  other  divelish 
games  to  be  frequented,  whereby  ensueth  not  onely  povertie 
to  the  players,  but  also  strife,  wariance,  brauling,  fighting, 
and  oftentimes  murther  to  the  utter  destruction  of  the  parties 
and  provoking  of  Gods  most  iust  wrath,  and  sworde  of 
vengeance.  These  and  all  such  like  pestilences,  and  con- 
tagions of  vices,  and  sinnes  to  bee  eschewed,  and  the  offenders 
once  monished,  and  not  reforming,  to  bee  punished  at  the  dis- 
cretion of  the  captaine  and  master,  as  appertaineth. 

13  Item,  that  morning  and  evening  prayer,  with  other  com- 
mon services  appointed  by  the  kings  Maiestie,  and  lawes 
of  this  Realme  to  be  read  and  saide  in  every  ship  daily 
by  the  minister  in  the  Admirall,  and  the  marchant  or  some 
other  person  learned  in  other  ships,  and  the  Bible  or  par- 
aphrases to  be  read  devoutly  and  Christianlj'  to  Gods  honour, 
and  for  his  grace  to  be  obtained  and  had  by  humble  and 
heartie  praier  of  the  Navigants  accordingly. 

14  Item,  that  every  officer  is  to  be  charged  by  invcntorie 
with  the  particulars  of  his  charge,  and  to  render  a  perfect  ac- 
compt  of  the  difFraying  of  the  same  together  with  modest, 
and  temperate  dispending  of  powder,  shot,  and  use  of  all 


-I' 


ilil 


;.;•! 


ill!! 

■■m 


400 


APPENDIX  NO.  B8. 


kiiidc  of  artillery,  which  is  not  to  bo  misused,  but  diligently 
to  bo  preserved  for  the  necessary  defence  of  the  fleete  and 
voyage,  together  with  due  keeping  of  all  instruments  of  your 
N  ivigation  and  other  requisites. 

15  Item,  no  liquor  to  be  spilt  on  the  balast,  nor  filtliinos  to 
be  left  within  boord:  the  cook  room,  and  all  other  places  to  be 
ke[)t  cloano  for  the  Vjetter  health  of  the  companie,  the  gro- 
mals  and  pages  to  bee  brought  up  according  to  the  laudable 
order  and  use  of  the  Sea,  as  well  in  learning  of  Navigation, 
as  in  exercising  of  that  which  to  them  appertaineth. 

16  Item,  the  liveries  in  apparel  given  to  the  mariners  be 
to  be  kept  by  the  marchants,  and  not  to  be  worne,  but  by  the 
order  of  the  captaine,  when  ho  shall  see  cause  to  muster  or 
shewe  them  in  good  amy,  for  the  advancement  and  honour 
of  the  voyage,  and  the  liveries  to  bee  redelivered  to  the  keep- 
ing of  the  marchants,  untill  it  shall  be  thought  convenient  for 
every  person  to  have  the  ful  use  of  his  garment. 

17  Item,  when  any  mariner  or  any  other  passenger  shul 
have  neede  of  any  necessarie  furniture  of  apparell  for  his  body, 
and  conservation  of  his  health,  the  same  shall  bee  delivered 
him  by  the  Marchant,  at  the  assignement  of  the  captaine  and 
Master  of  that  shippe,  wherein  such  needie  person  shall  be, 
at  such  reasonable  price  as  the  same  cost,  without  any  gnino 
to  be  exacted  by  the  marchants,  the  value  therof  to  be 
entred  by  the  marchant  in  his  booke,  and  the  same  to  bo 
discounted  off  the  parties  wages,  that  so  shal  receive,  and 
weare  the  same. 

18  Item,  the  sicke,  diseased,  weake,and  visited  person  within 
boord,  to  be  tendred,  relieved,  comforted  and  holpen  in  the 
time  of  his  infirmicie,  and  every  manor  of  person,  without 
respect,  to  Vioare  anothers  burden,  and  no  man  to  refuse  such 
labour  us  f-hall  be  put  to  him  for  the  most  benefite,  and  publike 
wealth  of  the  voyage,  and  enterprise,  to  be  atchieved  exactly. 

19  Item,  if  any  person  shal  fortune  to  die,  or  miscary  in  the 
voyage,  such  apparell,  and  other  goods,  as  he  shall  have  at 
the  time  of  his  death,  is  to  be  kept  by  the  order  of  the  captaine 
and  Master  of  the  shippe  and  an  inventorie  to  be  made  of  it, 
and  conserved  to  the  use  of  his  wife,  and  children,  or  other- 


^^^^^m 


APPENDIX  NO    56. 


401 


ithin 

ill  the 

thout 

such 
ubliko 

actly. 

in  the 

ave  at 

ptaino 

of  it, 

other- 


wise according  to  his  mind,  and  wil,  and  tho  day  of  his  death 
t()  ho  ontrcd  in  tho  Marohunts  and  Stewards  hookes  :  to  tlio 
intent  it  may  ho  knowon  what  wages  ho  shall  have  deserved 
to  his  death,  and  what  shall  rest  duo  to  him. 

20  Item,  that  tho  Ahirohants  a[»pointod  for  this  prt^ont  vo- 
yage, shall  not  mako  any  show  or  sale  of  any  kind  of  marchan- 
dizes,  or  open  their  commodities  to  any  forroin  princes,  or  any 
of  their  suhiects,  without  tho  consent,  privitie  or  agreement 
of  tho  Captaines,  tho  capo  Mai'chants  and  tho  assistants,  or 
fouro  of  thorn,  whereof  tho  captaino  generall,  the  Pilot  Maior, 
and  capo  Marchant  to  ho  three,  and  every  of  the  pettio 
marchantstoshewo  his  reckoning  to  tho  caj)o  marchant  when 
they,  or  any  of  them  shall  be  required  :  and  no  commutation 
or  trucko  to  be  made  by  any  of  tho  pettio  niarchants,  without 
the  assent  ahovesaid:  and  all  wares,  and  commodities  trucked, 
bought  or  given  to  the  companio,  by  way  of  marcliaiidise, 
trucke,  or  any  other  respect,  to  be  booked  by  tho  marchants, 
and  to  bo  wel  ordrod,  packed,  and  conserved  in  one  maese  en- 
tn-oly,  and  not  to  bo  broken  or  altered, until  the  shippes  shall  ro- 
turne  to  tho  right  discharges,  and  inventorie  of  al  goods,  wares, 
and  marchandises  so  trucked,  bought,  or  otherwise  dispended, 
to  be  presented  to  the  Governor,  Consuls,  and  assistants  in 
London,  in  good  order,  to  the  intent  the  Kings  Maiestie  may 
be  truly  answered  of  that  which  to  his  grace  by  his  grant  of 
corporation  is  limited,  according  to  our  most  bound  dueties, 
and  the  whole  companio  also  to  have  that  which  by  right 
unto  them  appertainoth,  and  no  embezolmcnt  shall  be  used, 
l>ut  tho  truth  of  tho  whole  voyage  to  bee  opened,  to  tho  com- 
mon wealth  and  benetito  of  the  whole  companio,  and  mystcrie, 
as  appertainoth,  without  guile,  fraude,  or  male  engine. 

21  Item,  no  particulier  person,  to  hinder  or  preiudicate  tho 
common  stocke  of  the  company,in  sale  or  preferment  of  his  own 
proper  wares,  and  things,  and  no  particular  emergent  or  pur- 
chase to  be  employed  to  any  several  profitc,  untill  the  com- 
mon stocke  of  the  companio  shall  be  fiu'nished,  and  no  person 
to  hinder  the  com'mon  benefite  in  such  purchases  or  contin- 
gents, as  shal  fortune  to  any  one  of  them,  by  his  owne  proper 
policie,  industrie,  or  chance,  norno  contention  to  rise  in  that 

26 


i! 


Il:; 


402 


APPENDIX  NO.  58. 


behalfe,  by  any  occasion  of  iewel,  stone,  pearles,  precious 
mettals,  or  other  things  of  the  region,  where  it  shall  chance 
the  same  to  rise,  or  to  be  found,  bought,  trucked,  permuted,  or 
given:  but  every  person  to  be  bounden  in  such  case,  and  up- 
on such  occasion,  by  order,  and  direction,  as  the  Generall 
Captaine,  and  the  Councell  shall  establish  and  determine,  to 
whose  order  and  discretion  the  same  is  left :  fo^*  that  of 
things  uncertaine,  no  certaine  rules  may  or  can  be  given. 

22  Item,  not  to  disclose  to  any  nation  the  state  of  our  reli- 
gion, but  to  passe  it  over  in  silence,  without  any  declaration  of 
it,  seeming  to  beare  with  such  lawes,  and  rites,  as  the  place 
hath,  where  you  shall  arrive. 

23  Item,  for  as  much  as  our  people,  and  shippes  may  ap- 
peare  unto  them  strange  and  wonderous,  and  theirs  also  to 
ours  :  it  is  to  be  considered,  how  they  may  be  used,  learning 
much  of  their  natures  and  dispositions,  by  some  one  such  per- 
son, as  you  may  first  either  allure,  or  take  to  be  brought  aboord 
your  ships,  and  there  to  learne  as  you  may,  without  violence 
or  force,  and  no  woman  to  be  tempted,  or  intreated  to  incon- 
tinencie,  or  dishonestie. 

24  Item,  the  person  so  taken,  to  be  well  entertained,  used 
and  apparelled,  to  bt  set  on  land,  to  the  intent  that  he  or  she 
may  allure  other  to  draw  nigh  to  shewe  the  commodities  : 
and  if  the  person  taken  may  be  made  drunke  with  yourbeero, 
or  wine,  you  shal  know  the  secrets  of  his  heart. 

25  Item,  our  people  may  not  passe  further  into  a  land,  then 
that  they  may  be  able  to  recover  their  pinnesses,  or  ships,  and 
not  to  credit  the  faire  words  of  the  strange  people,  which  be 
many  times  tried  subtile  and  false,  nor  to  be  drawen  into  pcr- 
ill  of  losse,  for  the  desire  of  golde,  silver,  or  riches,  and  estecme 
your  owne  commodities  above  al  other,  and  in  countenance 
shew  not  much  to  desire  the  forren  commodities  nevertheless 
take  them  as  for  friendship,  or  by  way  of  permutation. 

26  Item,  every  nation  and  region  is  to  be  considered  advi- 
sedly, and  not  to  provoke  them  by  any  disdaine,  laughing,  con- 
tempt, or  such  like,  but  to  use  them  with  prudent  circum- 
spection, with  al  gentlenes  and  curtesio,  and  not  to  tary  long 
in  one  place,  untill  you  shall  have  attained  the  most  worthy 


APPENDIX  NO.  56, 


403 


place  *  may  be  found,  in  such  sort,  as  you  may  returne  „  vic- 
tuals sufficient  prosperously. 

27  Item,  the  names  of  the  people  of  every  Island,  are  to  be 
taken  in  writing,  with  the  commodities  and  incommodities  of 
the  same,their  natures,  qualities  and  dispositions, the  site  of  the 
same,  and  what  things  they  are  most  desirous  of,  and  what 
commodities  they  wil  most  willingly  depart  with,  and  what 
mettals  they  have  in  hils,  mountaines,  strearaes,  or  rivers, 
in  or  under  the  earth. 

28  Item,  if  people  shal  appeare  gathering  of  stones,  gold 
mettall,  or  other  like,  on  the  sand,  your  pinnesses  may  drawe 
nigh,  marking  what  things  they  gather,  using  or  playing  upon 
the  drumme,  or  such  other  instruments,  as  may  allure  them 
to  barkening,  to  fantasie,  or  desire  to  see,  and  heare  your  in- 
struments and  voyces,  but  keepe  you  out  of  danger,  and  shewe 
to  them  no  poynt  or  signe  of  rigour  and  hostilitie. 

29  Item,  if  you  shall  bo  invited  into  any  Lords  or  Rulers 
house,  to  dinner,  or  other  parliance,  goe  in  buch  order  of 
strength,  that  you  may  be  stronger  then  they,  and  be  warie  of 
woods  and  ambushes,  and  that  your  weapons  be  not  out  of 
your  possessions. 

30  Item,  if  you  shall  see  them  weare  Lyons  or  Beares 
skinnes,  having  long  bowes,  and  arrowes,  be  not  afraid  of  that 
sight  :  for  such  be  worno  oftentimes  more  to  feare  strangers, 
then  for  any  other  cause. 

31  Iiem,  there  are  people  that  can  swimme  in  the  sea, 
havens,  and  rivers,  naked,  having  bowes  and  shafts,  coveting 
to  draw  nigh  your  ships,  which  if  they  shal  finde  not  wel 
watched,  or  warded,  they  wil  assault,  desirous  of  the  bodies  of. 
I  en,  .vhich  they  covet  for  meate  ;  if  you  resist  them,  tbey 
dive,  and  so  wil  flee,  and  therefore  diligent  watch  is  to  be  kept 
both  day  and  night,  in  some  Islands. 

32  Item,  if  occasion  shal  serve,  that  you  may  give 
advertisements  of  your  proceedings  in  such  things  as 
may  correspond  to  the  expectation  of  the  company,  and 
likelihood  of  successe  in  the  voyage,  passing  such  dan- 
geis  of  the  seas,  perils  of  ice,  intollerable  coldes,  and 
other     impediments,     which     I'y     sundry     authors     and 


il 


-:ll 


.;:| 


404 


APPENDIX  NO.  56. 


writers,  have  ministred  matter  of  suspition  in  some  heads  that 
this  voyage  could  not  succede  for  the  extremitie  of  the  North 
pole,  lacke  of  passage,  and  such  like,  which  have  caused 
wavering  minds,  and  doubtful  heads,  not  onely  to  withdraw 
themselves  from  the  adventure  of  this  voyage,  but  also  dis- 
swaded  others  from  the  same,  the  certaintie  wherof,  when  you 
shall  have  tried  by  experience,  (  most  certaine  Master  of  all 
worldly  knowledge)  then  for  declaration  of  the  trueth,  which 
you  shall  have  experted,  you  may  by  common  assent  of  coun- 
sell,  sende  either  by  land,  or  otherwaies,  such  two  or  one  per- 
son, to  bring  the  same  by  credite,  as  you  shal  think  may 
passe  in  safetie  :  which  sending  is  not  be  done,  but  upon  urgent 
causes,  in  likely  successe  of  the  voyage,  in  finding  of  passage, 
in  towardlines  of  beneficiall  traffike,  or  such  other  like,  where- 
by the  company  being  advertised  of  your  estates  and  pro- 
ceedings, may  further  provide,  foresee,  and  deter~^)ine  that 
which  may  seeme  most  good  and  beneficiall  f  :  ^'  ^  ublikc 
wealth  of  the  same  :  either  providing  before  hand  such  things, 
as  shall  bee  requisite  for  the  continuance  of  the  voyage,  or  else 
otherwise  to  dispose  as  occasion  shall  serve  :  in  which  things 
your  wisedomes  and  discretions  are  to  be  used,  and  shewed, 
and  the  contents  of  this  capitule,  by  you  much  to  be  pondred, 
for  that  you  be  not  ignorant,  how  many  persons,  as  well  the 
kings  Maiestie,  the  Lords  of  his  honorable  Counsel,  this  whole 
companie,  as  also  your  wives,  children,  kinsfolkes,  allies, 
friends  and  familiars,  be  replenished  in  their  hearts  with  ar- 
dent desire  to  learne  and  know  your  estates,  conditions,  and 
welfares,  and  in  what  likelihood  you  be  in,  to  obtain  this  r 
table  enterprise,  which  is  hoped  no  lesse  to  succeed  to  v  u 
then  the  orient  or  Occident  Indias  have  to  the  high  be,  t, 
of  the  Empereur,  and  kings  of  Portugal,  whose  subiects  in- 
dustries, and  travailes  by  sea,  have  inriched  them,  by  those 
lands  and  Islands,  which  were  to  all  Cosmographers,  and  other 
writers  both  unknowne,  and  also  by  apparances  of  reason  voido 
of  experience  thought  and  reputed  unhabitable  for  extremities 
of  heates,  and  colds,  and  yet  indeed  tried  most  rich,  peopled, 
temperate,  and  so  commodious,  as  all  Europe  hath  not  the 
hke.  V      - 


[A.J^ 


APPENDIX  NO.  56. 


405 


33  Item,  no  conspiracies,  parttakings,  factions,  false  tales, 
untrue  reports,  which  be  the  very  seedes,  and  fruits  of  conten- 
tion, discord  and  confusion,  by  evill  tongues  to  be  suffered,  but 
the  same,  and  all  other  ungodlines  to  be  chastened  charitably 
with  brotherly  love,  and  alwaies  obedience  to  be  used  and 
practised  by  al  persons  in  their  degrees,  not  only  for  duetie 
and  conscience  sake  towards  God,  under  whose  mercifull  hand 
navigants  above  all  other  creatures  naturally  bee  most  nigh, 
and  vicine,  but  also  for  prudent  and  worldy  pollicie,  and  pub- 
like weale,  considering  and  alwaies  having  present  in  your 
mindes  that  you  be  all  one  most  royall  kings  subiects,  and 
naturals,  with  daily  remembrance  of  the  great  importance  of 
the  voyage,  the  honour,  glorie,  praise,  and  benefite  that  de- 
pend of,  and  upon  the  same,  toward  the  common  wealth  of 
this  noble  Realme  the  advancement  of  you  the  travailers 
therein,  your  wives,  and  children,  and  so  to  endevour  your 
selves  as  that  you  may  satisfie  the  expectation  of  them,  who 
at  their  great  costs,  charges,  and  expenses,  have  so  furnished 
you  in  good  sort,  and  plentie  of  all  necessaries,  ac  the  like  was 
never  in  any  realme  seene,  used,  or  knowen  requisite  and 
needful  for  such  an  exploit,  which  is  most  likely  to  be  at- 
chieved,  and  brought  to  good  effect  if  every  person  in  his 
vocation  shall  endevour  himselfe  according  to  his  charge,  and 
most  bounden  duetie  :  praying  the  living  God,  to  give  you 
his  grace,  to  accomplish  your  charge  to  his  glorie,  whose 
merciful  hand  shal  prosper  your  voyage,  and  preserve  you 
from  all  dangers. 

In  witnes  whereof  I  Sebastian  Gabota,  Governour  aforesaide, 
to  these  persent  ordinances  have  subscribed  my  name,  and  put 
my  scale,  the  day  and  yeere  above  written. 

The  names  of  the  twelve  Counsellors  appointed  in  this 
voyage. 


(•' 


i* 


406 


APPENDIX  NO.  58. 


LVII. 

Appointment  of  Sebastian   Cabot  as   Governor  of  the  Company 
of  Merchant  Adventurers,  26  Feb.  1555. 

Febr.  26  1555.  Westminster. 
Letters  patent  constituting  William  marquis  of  Westminster 
and  others  a  body  corporate,  by  name  of  Merchant  Advent- 
urers of  England  for  discovery  of  lands,  territories  etc.  un- 
known and  not  before  frequented  etc.  S[ebastian]  C[abot]  to 
o--^  the  first  Governor. 

\  Lemon,  Calendar  of  Domestic  State  Papers,  1547-80. 
T.  _  p.  65]. 


LVIIL 

Queen  Mary's  Confirmation  of  the  pension  for  life  to  Sebastian  Cabot. 

Anno  D.  1555. 

Rex  et  Regina,  Omnibus  ad  quos,  etc.  salutem. 

Sciatis  quod  nos, 

De  gratia  nostra  speciali,  ac  ex  certa  scientia  et  mero  Motu 

nostris,  nee  non  in  consideratione  boni  veri  et  acceptabilis  ser- 

vitii  Nobis,  per  dilectum  servientem  nostrum    Sebastianum 

Caboto  armigerum  ante  hac  impensi  et  imposterum  impen- 

dendi, 

Dedimus  et  concessimus,  ac  per  Praesentes  pro  nobis  Hae- 
redibus  et  Successoribus  nostris,  damns  et  concedimus  prae- 
fato  Sebastiano,  quandam  Annuitatem  sive  annualem  Red- 
ditura  centum  sexaginta  sex  librarum  tresdecim  solidorum  et 
quatuor  denariorum  legalis  monetae  angliae, 

Habendam  gaudendam  et  annuatim  percipiendam  eandem 


APFKNDIX  NO.  59. 


407 


Annuitatem  sive  Annualem  Reditum  centum  sexaginta  sex 
librarum  tresdecim  solidorum  et  quattuor  denariorum  prae- 
fato  Sebastiano  et  Assignatis  suis,  a  festo  Annunciationis 
beatae  Virginia  ultimo  praeterito,  ad  terminum  et  pro  termino 
Vitae  eiusdem  Sebastiani  de  Thesauro  nostro  Haeredum  et 
Successorum  nostrorum  per  manus  Thesaurari  et  Camera- 
riorum  nostrorum  Haeredum  et  Successorum  nostrojum  ibidem 
pro  tempore  existentium,  ad  festa  Nativitatis  Sancti  Johannis 
Baptisstae,  Sancti  Michaelis  Archangeli,  Natalis  Domini  et 
Annunciationis  beatae  Mariae  Virginis,  per  aequales  Portio- 
nes  annuatim  solvendam  ;  prima  solutione  inde  incipiente  ad 
festum  Nativitatis  Sancti  Johannis  Baptistae  ultimo  prae- 
terito ; 

Eo  quod  expressa  mentio  etc. 

In  cuius  rei  etc 

Teste  Rege  et  Regina  apud  Saint  James  XXVII.  Die  No- 
vembris. 

Per  breve  de  Privato  sigillo — Rymer,  XV,  427. 


^4- 


LIX. 

Decree  of  Queen,  Mary,  dividing  the  pension  of  Sebastian  Cabot 
■with  William  Worfhington. 

,    v^  AnnoD.  1557. 

Rex  et  Regina  omnibus  ad  quos  etc.  salutem. 

Cum  nos,  per  Literas  nostras  Patentes  gerentes  datam  apud 
voestem.  vicesimo  septimo  die  Novembris  annis  Regnorum 
nostrorum  secundo  et  tertio,  de  gratia  nostra  speciali,  ac  ex 
certa  scientia  et  mero  Motu  nostris,  necnon  in  consideratione 
boni  veri  et  acceptabilis  servitii  nobis  per  dilectum  servientem 
nostrum  Sebastianum  Caboto  Armigerum  antea  impensi  et 
tunc  in  posterum  impendendi,  pro  Nobis  Haeredibus  et  Suc- 
cessoribus  nostris  dederimus   et  concesserimus  praefato  Se- 


\> 


408 


APPENDIX  NO.  59. 


bastiano  quandam  Annuitatem  sive  annualem  Reditum  cen- 
tum sexagiiita  sex  Libraruni  tresdecim  solidorum  et  quatuoi" 
Denariorum  legalis  Monetae  Angliae, 

Habendam  gaudendam  et  annuatim  percipiendam  eandem 
Annuitatem  sive  annualem  Redditum  centum  sexaginta  sex 
Librarum  tresdecim  solidorum  et  quatuor  Denariorum  prae- 
fato  Sebastiano  et  assignatis  suis  a  festo  Annunciationis  be- 
atae  Mariae  Virginis,  tunc  ultimo  praeterito  ad  minum  et  pro 
Termino  Vitae  eiusdem  Sebastiani  de  Thesauro  nostro  Hae- 
redum  et  successorum  nostrorum  per  manus  Thesaurari  et 
Camerariorum  nostrorum  ibidem  pro  tempore  existentium 
ad  festa  Nativitatis  Sancti  Johannis  Baptistae,  et  Sancti  Micha- 
elis  Archangeli,  Natalis  Domini,  et  Annunciationis  Beatae 
Mariae  Virginis  per  aequales  Portiones  annuatim  solvendam, 
prima  solutione  inde  incipiente  ad  Festum  Nativitatis  Sancti 
Johannis  Baptistae  tunc  ultimo  praeterito,  prout  in  dictis 
Literis  Patentibus  inter  alia  plenius  continetur. 

Quas  quidem  Litteras  Patentes  praefatus  Sebastianus  Caboto 
nobis  in  Cancellariam  nostram  sursum  reddidit  et  restituit 
oancellandas,  et  ibidem  jam  cancellatae  existunt,  prout  certam 
inde  habemus  notitiam,  ea  tamen  intentione  quod  nos,  alias 
literas  nostras  patentes  de  Annuitate  praedicta  eidem  Se- 
bastiano et  dilecto  servienti  nostro  Wilielmo  Worthington 
Armigero  ac  eorum  alteri  diutius  viventis  in  forma  sequente 
facere  et  concedere  dignaremur  j 

Sciatis  igitur  quod  Nos  pro  considerationibus  praedictis  nee 
non  in  consideratione  boni  veri  et  fidelis  servitii  Nobis,  per  di- 
lectos  servientes  nostros  Sebastianum  Caboto  et  Willielmum 
Worthington  Armigeros  ante  hac  impensi  et  in  posterum 
impendendi,  de  Gratiis  nostris  specialibus,  ac  ex  certis  scien- 
tiis  et  meris  Motibus  nostris,  dedimus  et  concessimus,  ac  per 
Praesentes,  pro  Nobis  Haeredibus  et  Successoribus  nostrum 
praefatae  Reginae  damns  et  concedimus  eisdem  Sebastiano  et 
Willielmo  ac  eorum  alteri  diutius  viventis,  dictam  Annuita- 
tem sive  annualem  Redditum  centum  sexaginta  sex  librarum 
tresdecim  solidorum  et  quattuor  Denariorum  legalis  Monetae 
Angliae, 

Habendam  gaudendam  et  annuatim  percipiendam  eandem 


APPENDIX  NO    59. 


409 


annuitatem  sive  annualem  Redditum  centum  sexaginta  sex 
Librarum  tresdecim  solidorum  et  quatuor  Denariorum  praefa- 
tis  Sebastiano  Caboto  et  Willielmo  Worthington  ac  eorum 
alteri  diutius  viventis  et  assignatis  suis,  ac  assignatis  eorum 
alterius  diutius  viventis,  a  festo  Annunciationis  beatae  Ma- 
rine Virginis  ultimo  praeterito  ad  Terminum  et  pro  Termino 
Vitarum  eorumden  Sebastiani  ot  VVillielmi,  ac  eorum  alterius 
diutius  viventis,  de  Thesauro  nostro,  Haeredum  et  Successo- 
rum  nostrorum  dictae  Reginae,  ad  Preceptam  sacarii  nostri 
Westum.  Haeredum  et  Successorum  nostrorum  dictae  Re- 
ginae, ibidem  pro  tempore  existentium  ad  festa  Nativitatis 
Sancti  Johannis  Baptistae,  Sancti  Micliaelis  Archangeli,  Nata- 
lis  Domini,  et  Annunciationis  beate  Mariae  Virginis,  per  ae- 
quales  portiones  annuatim  solvendam  ; 

Eo  quod  expressa  mentio,  etc. 

In  cuius  rei  etc. 

Teste  Rege  et  Regina  apud  "Westmonasterium  vicesimo 
nono  die  Mai. 

Per  Breve  de  Private  Sigillo.—Rymer,  XV,  466 


The  fixD. 


i  i 


